Italian Jesuit writer (1718?1808)
Saverio Bettinelli
|
---|
|
Born
| (
1718-07-18
)
July 18, 1718
|
---|
Died
| 13 September 1808
(1808-09-13)
(aged 90)
|
---|
Nationality
| Italian
|
---|
Other names
| M. Versajo Melasio
Diodoro Delfico
|
---|
Occupations
| - Jesuit priest
- Dramatist
- Polemicist
- Poet
- Literary critic
|
---|
Parent(s)
| Girolamo Bettinelli and Paola Bettinelli (nee Frugoni)
|
---|
|
|
Influences
| |
---|
|
Era
| |
---|
Discipline
| Literary criticism, italian studies, Medieval studies
|
---|
Institutions
| University of Modena
|
---|
Influenced
| |
---|
|
Saverio Bettinelli
(18 July 1718 ? 13 September 1808) was an Italian
Jesuit
writer. He became known as a polymath, dramatist, polemicist, poet, and literary critic. He was a friend of some of the leading authors of his times:
Voltaire
,
Francesco Algarotti
,
Vincenzo Monti
and
Ippolito Pindemonte
.
Theodore Tronchin
,
Guillaume du Tillot
,
Melchiorre Cesarotti
,
Giacomo Filippo Durazzo
,
Pietro Verri
,
Giammaria Mazzucchelli
and
Francesco Maria Zanotti
were among his correspondents.
Life
[
edit
]
He was born at
Mantua
; there and later in Bologna, he studied under the Jesuits, till entering in
novitiate
in 1736, then formally consecrated as a priest in 1738.
He first taught literature from 1739 to 1744 at
Brescia
, where
Cardinal Quirini
, Count Federico Mazzuchelli, Count Duranti and other scholars, formed an illustrious academy. He next went to Bologna, to study divinity. There he was in contact with the circle including the poet Marini,
Algarotti
, and
Zanotti
. At the age of thirty he went to
Venice
, where he became professor of
rhetoric
. The superintendence of the college of nobles at
Parma
was entrusted to him in 1751; and he had principal charge of the studies of
poetry
and
history
, and the entertainments of the theatre. He remained there eight years, visiting, at intervals, other cities of Italy, often on the affairs of his order.
In 1755-1758 he undertook a series of journeys. First travelling to
Germany
in 1755, proceeded as far as
Strasbourg
and
Nancy
. He returned to Italy as a
tutor
to the sons of the Prince of
Hohenlohe
. The year following, he journeyed again to
France
, along with the eldest of his pupils; and during this excursion he wrote his famous
Lettere dieci di Virgilio agli Arcadi
, which were published at Venice. Bettinelli was also a poet of
arcadic
verse, collected in his
Versi sciolti
of 1758 and inspired by
Frugoni
and
Algarotti
, and of some tragedies including
Gionata
(1774),
Demetrio Poliorcete
(1758),
Serse
(1764) that were put on for the jesuit theater. In 1758 he went to
Lorraine
, to the court of King
Stanislaus
, who sent him on a matter of business to visit
Voltaire
. He would also meet in France with
Rousseau
.
[1]
From
Geneva
he returned to Parma, where he arrived in 1759. He afterwards lived for some years at
Verona
and Modena, and he had just been appointed professor of rhetoric there, when, in 1773, the
suppression of the Jesuit Order
occurred in Italy, he had to abandon his teaching post at Modena,
[2]
Bettinelli returned home, and resumed his literary labours with new ardor. The siege of Mantua by the French compelled him to leave the city, and he retired to Verona, where he formed an intimate friendship with the chevalier
Ippolito Pindemonte
.
His major works are the literary criticisms and observations of culture. In 1757, he penned a series of letters addressed to
Virgil
in which he criticized the
Divine Comedy
by
Dante Alighieri
, and affirmed that
Among the erudite books, only certain parts from the
Divine Comedy
should be included, and these would form no more than five cantos
[3]
Voltaire
was to praise his idiosyncratic opinions.
In 1766 he wrote
Lettere inglesi
where he proposes good taste in modern literature. In the
enthusiasm of fine arts
or
Dell'entusiasmo delle belle arti
, from 1769, where he exalts enthusiasm as a source of inspiration for fantasy in art according to a tendency that was pre-romantic.
[1]
Among his main works is a sketch of the progress of literature, science, fine arts, industry, and customs in Italy, originally titled
Risorgimento negli studi, nelle, Arti e ne' Costumi dopo di Mille
.
[4]
In 1797 he returned to Mantua. Though nearly eighty years old, he resumed his labors and his customary manner of life. He undertook in 1799 a complete edition of his works, which was published at Venice in 24 vols. At this death at the age of 90 years, he still retained his gaiety and vivacity of mind.
[6]
Works
[
edit
]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
- Bonfatti, Alfredo (1952). "Il petrarchismo critico di Saverio Bettinelli".
Lettere Italiane
.
4
(3): 151?180.
ISSN
0024-1334
.
JSTOR
26243867
.
- Finoli, Anna Maria (1968). "Inediti francesi del Bettinelli".
Lettere Italiane
.
20
(3): 391?402.
JSTOR
26248935
.
- Fubini, Mario (1970).
"Bettinelli, Saverio"
. In
Umberto Bosco
(ed.).
Enciclopedia Dantesca
. Rome:
Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
. Retrieved
14 August
2018
.
- Bonora, Ettore (1983). "Il pensiero critico del Bettinelli; Le tragedie e la poetica del tragico di Saverio Bettinelli; L'"entusiasmo delle belle arti" e Pietro Verri".
Parini e altro settecento
. Milan:
Feltrinelli
.
- Bonora, Ettore (1998).
Bettinelli e Virgilio, dall'Arcadia al Leopardi
. Modena: Mucchi.
- Ilaria Crotti; Ricciarda Ricorda, eds. (1998).
Saverio Bettinelli. Un gesuita alla scuola del mondo
. Roma: Bulzoni.
ISBN
88-8319-226-5
.
- Ricorda, Ricciarda.
Il ≪Parnaso veneziano≫: Bettinelli e la cultura veneziana
. pp. 247 ff.
- Crotti, I. (2002).
"Bettinelli, Saverio"
.
The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature
.
Oxford University Press
. Retrieved
7 June
2023
.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
Muscetta 1967
.
- ^
G. F. Galeani Napione (1809),
Vita dell'abate Saverio Bettinelli
, Page 91
, Turin, Italy: Presso i Fratelli Pomba
- ^
"Sia posto tra i libri di erudizione, e della Commedia si lascino solo taluni pezzi che, raccolti e, come meglio si puo, ordinati, formino non piu di cinque canti." Saverio Bettinelli -
Lettere di Virgilio agli Arcadi di Rome ? Lettera IX.
- ^
Saverio Bettinelli (1786),
Del Risorgimento d'Italia negli studi, nelle arti, e ne' costumi dopo il Mille
, Spese Remondini of Venice: Bassano, Italy
- ^
Dizionario biografico universale
, Volume 1, compiled by Gioacchino Maria Olivier-Poli, Naples (1824); pages 287-291.
- Attribution
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Academics
| |
---|
People
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|