Alessandro Piccolomini

Andrea Baldi (Rutgers University)
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Alessandro Piccolomini’s career as a humanist spans more than forty years, embracing numerous literary genres and mastering an exceptional array, even by Renaissance standards, of scholarly interests, in disciplines which range from theatre to poetry, rhetoric, poetics, ethics, logic, natural philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy.

Born in Siena in 1508, Piccolomini in his twenties joined the local Accademia degli Intronati [Academy of the Bewildered], a coterie of upper-class associates devoted to literary pursuits and the discussion of classical and vernacular writing. Professing a safe distance from the dramatic complexity of their historical and political environment, the Intronati tried to eschew dangerous conflicts with prevailing power structures. They fashioned themselves as a

2036 words

Citation: Baldi, Andrea. "Alessandro Piccolomini". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 April 2012 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13091, accessed 29 March 2024.]

13091 Alessandro Piccolomini 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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