Lázaro y Margutte entre burlas y hambre

In a comparative perspective between Spanish and Italian literature, it is considered a possible intertextual dialogue between Lazarillo de Tormes and the figure of the medium giant Margutte, proposed by Luigi Pulci in his Morgante (published between 1478 and 1483). This figure is actually examined as it appears in the Spanish translation of Pulci's work by Jerónimo de Aunés. This translation is divided into two volumes, both published in Valencia, the first in 1533 by the printer Francisco Díaz Romano (canti from I to XVII of the Italian original); the second in 1535 by the printer Nicolás Durán de Salvanyach (canti from the XVIII to the XXV). With regard to the second volume, which includes Margutte's episode, there are no modern editions and therefore I used a its facsimile. My research tries to highlight some points of contact between Lazarillo and the translation of Aunés, both at content and linguistic level. Therefore, this study also tends to integrate the corpus of literary knowledge of the anonymous author of Lazarillo.

Flora, Fauna, and Marsilio Ficino in Luigi Pulci’s Morgante

This study identifies an allegorical representation of the polemic between vernacular poet Luigi Pulci and Neoplatonic philosopher Marsilio Ficino within Pulci’s epic poem Il Morgante. Pulci’s critique of Ficino’s cultural-philosophical program may be deduced from the treatment of flora and fauna in two equine scenes from Pulci’s masterpiece. Twice in the Morgante, Rinaldo’s charger Baiardo is commandeered: first by the benevolent wizard Malagigi in canto 5, and then by the devil-theologian Astarotte in canto 25. In canto 5, Malagigi respects nature’s limits as determined by God and delineated by Pulci in canto 24. In canto 25, Astarotte’s powers and his treatment of plant and beast trump nature’s limits. Astarotte’s oration of Ficino’s philosophy from the De Christiana religione facilitates an allegorical identification of Marsilio Ficino and Pulci’s critical voice. Through this allegorical reading, tangible examples are applied to abstract conflicting cultural-philosophical programs. The Pulci-Ficino polemic is a valuable lens through which one may further comprehend the cultural complexities of Laurentian Florence, a time and place at the forefront of the Italian Renaissance.