Giovanni Andrea dell’Anguillara was born in Sutri, Italy (near Viterbo, in Lazio), to Francesco and Faustina Galli, probably in 1519. We do not know how and where Anguillara spent his childhood. After losing his father at a young age, he was probably raised and educated in Rome, where he witnessed the sack of the city in 1527 during an attack by the mutinous troops of Emperor Charles V. This episode must have left a mark on him as recollections of it frequently recur in his later writings.
Anguillara had literary ambitions from early on and in 1534 found a patron in Cardinal Ippolito de’ Medici. However, the cardinal’s untimely death in 1535, at age twenty-four, forced Anguillara to seek other means of earning his livelihood. Although he allegedly did not enjoy studying law, in 1541
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Citation: Clerc, Sandra. "Giovan Andrea dell'Anguillara". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 August 2017 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=13841, accessed 23 November 2024.]
