Radici comiche di Machiavelli poeta

The publication of the latest volume of the Edizione Nazionale of Machiavelli's complete works together with some recent findings provides a new perspective on the Florentine Secretary's poetry. In addition to many confirmations, such as the key role played by comic verse and in particular the influence of Burchiello and Pulci on his work, there also emerge some new developments. With regard to his obscene poems and those dedicated to malicious gossip, while further evidence is presented to support the attribution to Machiavelli of a work discovered by Antonio Corsaro in 2009, an obscene madrigal actually written by Aretino is shown to have been erroneously attributed to Machiavelli early on in a 16th-century manuscript. As for humanistic poetry, this article aims to demonstrate that Machiavelli actually penned one of a number of unpublished epitaphs written by Florentine writers in memory of a dog.