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The Philosopher, the Poet, and the Fragment: Ficino, Poliziano, and Le stanze per la giostraAuthor(s): Christina StoreySource: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 98, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 602-619Published by: Modern Humanities Research AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3738288 .

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THE PHILOSOPHER, THE POET, ANDTHE FRAGMENT: FICINO, POLIZIANO,

AND LE STANZE PER LA GIOSTRANec tamen Aligerum fraudarim hoc munere Dantem,Per styga per stellas mediique per ardua montis,Pulchra Beatricis sub virginis ora volantem;Quique cupidineum repetit Petrareha triumphum;Et qui bisquinis centum argumenta diebusPingit; et obscuri qui semina monstrat amoris:Unde tibi immensae veniunt praeconia laudis,Ingeniis opibusque potens, Florentia mater.1

So wrote Poliziano, the scholar-poet who, according to Croce's formulation,brought the 'secolo senza poesia'2 to an end. It is, of course, at best a sim-plification to describe the period between Petrarch's death (1374) and AngeloPoliziano's first major vernacular work, Le stanze per la giostra del MagnificoGiuliano di Piero dey Medici (c. 1476),3 as one without poetry. Italian versecontinued to be written throughout the early and mid-fifteenth century. Ifwe restate the formulation, however, as the 'century without erudite poetryrendered in a grand style', we begin to place Poliziano as a vernacular poetmore accurately. We also identify the qualities that so distinguish his poem:its self-conscious use of a grand style that imitated classical idioms to presentan erudite, mythological content.4 Yet as the opening quotation also shows,Poliziano traced his vernacular roots, and much of his philosophical conceits,to much more modern, distinctly Tuscan, sources.The poem is of importance to literary and cultural historians interested inthe early phase of Laurentian Florence. The ambience of this early period, andin particular the philosopher Marsilio Ficino's influences on intellectual life,have long fascinated and perplexed scholars. Not only was Le stanze composedin this context; the poet also had a personal relationship with the philosopher

1AngeloPoliziano,Silva cui titulus utricia Florence:AntoniusMiscominus,1491),cited andtranslated nEugenio Garin,Portraitsrom heQuattrocentoNew York:Harper and Row,1972),p. 183. *Norwould I desistfrompayingtribute o Dante, | who with fairBeatriceto guide himsped through he nether nd upper realms to the oftiest eaks ofthemountains; and Petrarchwho renews hetriumph f ove; hewho in tendayscreates hundred ales and he who revealstheoriginsof an obscure love. Hence, eternalgloryreflects pon you, inexhaustible n genius,unsurpassedin art, Mother Florence!' The two unnamedpoets are Boccaccio, author of theDecameron, nd Cavalcanti,whose sonnet Donna me prega' had an enduring nfluence n theFlorentinepoetictradition.2 BenedettoCroce,Poesiapopolareepoesiad'arte Bari: Laterza, 1957),p. 22.3 The exact date ofthe work s uncertain. have chosento followthe line ofscholarship hatbelieves thepoemwas begunafterApril 1476and thatGiuliano de' Medici's death n 1478causedthepoetto hissuspendwork. t is generally ssumedthat hepoemwas intended, o somedegree,to celebrate hehistoricaloust heldbyLorenzo in his brotherGiuliano's honour n 1475.4 Poliziano'suse ofa grand tylederivedfromhisstudy ftheclassics, longwithhispreferencefor ate classicalauthors, s discussed nMartinL. McLaughlin's Literarymitation n the talianRenaissance Oxford:ClarendonPress, 1995). Poliziano showed a consistent hoice of the morerare,erudite ources fromwhich he derived his own Latin and vernacular high' style pp. 191-209).

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CHRISTINA STOREY 603Ficino.5 On these grounds, the poem has been approached as a cultural productthat may yield important information about the exact cultural and aestheticinfluence of Ficino's philosophy.However, this area of scholarship appears extremely problematic. Le stanzehas an established tradition of scholarly explication in terms of Ficinian doc-trines of love. The stanzas which describe the realm of Venus (1. 122-24) andthe figure of Simonetta (1. 33-54) are said to be Platonic 'keys', as it were, un-locking the interpretative riddle of the unfinished poem. The critics who positthis, however, look all too quickly to Ficino as responsible for the presence ofsuch elements. The methodology of this scholarship is purely intertextual: itsapproach has been to identify possible textual and thematic links between thepoem and Ficino's writings, particularly his commentary on Plato's Symposium,II libro delVAmore (1469).Certainly, there is much evidence to suggest that Poliziano and his poetrywere influenced in some manner by Ficino and his work during the early andmid-i47os. Poliziano and Ficino, both members of the Medici household,moved in circles centred around Lorenzo il Magnifico. Believing that Ficinomust have 'influenced' Poliziano, critics have searched for direct verbal andthematic echoes of Ficino in Le stanze. Yet, since there is only one plausibleintertextual reference in the poem, the conclusion that Ficino's philosophyshaped Le stanze at the textual and doctrinal level is unconvincing. A survey ofthe secondary literature dealing with Ficinian influence on Le stanze can leaveone with the impression that Poliziano simply translated Ficinian philosophyinto poetry.6 The methodology of previous attempts to assess Ficino's influenceon Le stanze has therefore left little room for examining relationships that arenot restricted to intertextual references.The 'Ficinian Platonism' of Le stanze has generally been taken for granted.Even those scholars who have drawn parallels between Dante's Beatrice, Pet-rarch's Laura, and Poliziano's Simonetta cast their interpretations of this rela?tionship in Ficinian terms.7 Yet, while the love doctrine of Ficinian Platonismand that of the Tuscan tradition are related through their main source, Plato,they are nevertheless distinct. Absent, therefore, are studies that analyse Lestanze's use of the 'traditional' Platonism of Tuscan love poetry. Althoughstudies by literary and art historians have greatly enriched our understandingof the poem's use of sources, they too have had limited success in providingfully consistent and convincing interpretations of the poem's Platonism.This article is an attempt to clarify this particular area of investigation.Rejecting Ficino's intertextual influence suggests that we should approach the

5 Garin,Portraits, . 167.6 Ficinian Platonist nalysesof thepoem areprovidedby: Sandra Bermann,NeoplatonisminPolitian'sStanze per la giostra', orum talicum,15 (1981), 11-21; ArnolfoFerruolo,A Trend inRenaissanceThought and Art: Poliziano's Stanze per la giostra\ArtBulletin,37 (1955), 17-25,and 'Botticelli'sMythologies, icino's De Amore, oliziano's Stanze per a giostra: heir Circle ofLove', RomanicReview,44 (1953), 246-56; Mario Martelli, Simbolo e struttura elle Stanze', inAngeloPoliziano: storia metastoriaLecce: Conto, 1995), pp. 101-37; P-M. J.McNair, The BedofVenus: Key to Poliziano's Stanze', Italian Studies,24 (1970), 40-48.7 See GiancarloMazzacurati, Iproblemastorico el Petrarchismotaliano dal Boiardo a Lorenzo(Naples: Liguori, 1963).


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604 Ficino, Poliziano, and (Le stanze per la giostra'relationship between the poet and philosopher from a broader perspective. ThatFicino was a tremendously influential figure of the period is beyond doubt. Inorder to understand better Ficino's specific spheres of influence in Le stanze,I have chosen to examine the role he had in shaping those areas of intellectualculture that bear most relevance to the poem. The philosopher's influence inthe continuing humanist debate over the vernacular, his conception of elevatedstyle, and his extraordinary sensual aesthetics are central to a broader, andpossibly more accurate, understanding of Poliziano's response in Le stanze.It is fairly clear that Poliziano had reservations with regards to many FicinianPlatonic speculations.8 As this article will demonstrate, a critical differentiationbetween the Platonism of the Tuscan tradition and that of Ficino's Platonictheology must be made if the presence of Platonic conceits in Le stanze is tobe properly read. A clear assessment of Le stanze's use of vernacular narrativemodels, descriptive language, and Tuscan love doctrines will permit a betterestimate of Ficino's specific influence. Rather than approaching the intellectualand literary relationship between Ficino's textual philosophical doctrines andPoliziano's poetic fragment as a direct one, we should read the poetry in the 'in?direct' cultural context of Poliziano's reception of Ficino's aesthetic principlesand his application of them to a work of poetic art. It is these principles thatthis article will first examine before focusing more directly on the poem itself.Ficino, as the leading figure in the movement known as Florentine Platonism,was the first scholar with sufficient knowledge of Greek and theology to devotehimself to recovering the 'hidden wisdom ofthe pagans'.9 Ficino's contributionas the outstanding translator and commentator of Plato cannot be underesti-mated.10 While professing merely to explicate Platonic doctrines, Ficino wasalso, in his own right, a philosopher. Not simply the translator of Plato, Ficinowas a powerful disseminator of Platonic teaching. There is testimony to hissuccess: in a 'catalogus amicorum nostrorum' Ficino listed sixty-seven of Flo-rence's leading intellectuals and statesmen among his students and associates.11Ficino and his teachings were popular with a variety of audiences. His broad

8 Thomas M. Greene,TheLight n Troy: Imitation ndDiscovery n RenaissancePoetry NewHaven: Yale University ress,1982), p. 153. See also VittoreBranca, Tra Ficino e Poliziano', inPolizianoeVumanesimoellaparola (Turin: Einaudi, 1983). Garin,speaking fPoliziano's corpus,notesthat while Plato is in evidence in Poliziano's Latin works, here s little raceof FicinianPlatonism:Portraits, . 170.9 JamesHankins,Plato in the talian Renaissance, vols Leiden: Brill,1991),1,282.At the timeof Cosimo's death n 1464,Ficino had translated en of Plato's dialogues. Twenty-three ialogueshad been translatedby 1466, and possiblyall thirty-six y 1469. During theyears 1469-74 hecomposed hismagnumopus, the TheologiaPlatonica, in eighteenbooks. De christiana eligionewas writtenn 1474.Afterwards,icino returned o his translation rojectand finallyn 1484thefirst ditionof the Platonisoperaomniawas printed.10Paul O. Kristeller, hePhilosophy fMarsilio Ficino New York:Columbia University ress,1943),p. 3. Ficino also translated nd commented n Plotinus.11Hankins,Plato in the talian Renaissance, ,298. The term student' s not used herestrictlyin reference o thosewho studiedformally nder Ficino. Rather t is a description hat ooselyfits n assortment fpeoplewho had some degreeof ntellectual xchangewith Ficino. See JamesHankins, The Myth of the PlatonicAcademyof Florence',RenaissanceQuarterly, 4 (1991),429-76 (p. 455). Duringthe1460sone can discernFicino's evolvingroleand reputation rom hatof a young cholar o that f an intellectual uideand type fspiritual uru.Arthur ield describesFicino's roleas one of ethical eadershipto the Florentineyouth'.See ArthurField, TheOriginsofthePlatonicAcademy fFlorencePrinceton:PrincetonUniversity ress,1988), pp. 195?96.


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CHRISTINA STOREY 605appeal can be partly explained by one aspect of Platonic philosophy: its abi?lity to support multiple interpretations.12 The lack of pressure to conform orcommit himself to a rigid system furthered the appeal of Platonic teachings forFicino.13 His students and associates ranged from the aristocrat seeking culturalembellishment, to those simply following the latest trend, to those with a realinterest in philosophy. Of interest here is the broader influence the Ficinianproject had on the definition of humanism's cultural aims, its assessment ofvernacular poetry, and the specific elements of Ficino's writing and ideas thatinformed Poliziano's poetics and style.Ficino's project, to revive the Platonic theology of the ancients and, by sodoing, to revive ancient Christianity, redefined the cultural aims of the hu?manist movement for the generation coming of age in the 1460s and 1470s.Rather than simply reviving the study and imitation of classical Latin authorsas a means of regaining a linguistic resemblance to the ancients, the Laurentianhumanists believed that they could ground their cultural revival at a deeperlevel: one which changed men inwardly. Ficino's method of evaluating sourcesevoked different values from that of Bruni and Alberti. Ficino placed less valueon the literary and rhetorical forms of his sources, and privileged instead theircontent. This approach allowed Ficino to synthesize material gained from amultiplicity of sources and genres: philosophy, myths, poetry?all were exam-ined for content that served Ficino's project of reviving ancient religion, andthis theme became his organizing principle. The implicit strategies groundingFicino's project set the stage for a radically new method of using the 'classics':the Laurentian humanists could now approach the classical canon and the ver?nacular classics for material useful to the production of works which mightrival their predecessors. Such an ambition was at the heart of contemporaryrhetoric that associated Lorenzo's 'age' with a new period of 'golden culture',previously experienced only in ancient times.14 Ficino's revision of humanistcultural aims thus reshaped the possibilities for an erudite vernacular poetry.Poetry, along with music, occupied a particularly high position among theliberal arts in Ficino's philosophy. Following Plato's Phaedrus, he saw poetryas a type of divine madness. It is not surprising, then, to realize that Ficino wasconcerned about the divorce of philosophy from poetry. Examples of poetrylacking in particular philosophical ornament or depth could easily be found inPulci's successful works and Lorenzo's early verse.15 A golden age of culture had

12Eugenio Garin, talian Humanism:Philosophynd Civic Life in theRenaissanceNew York:Harperand Row,1965),p. 10.13 In keepingwiththesense of flexibilityf Platonicthought,Field notes that Ficino 'neverdemanded such a literaldevotion tophilosophy]fromhis friends' s he himself ad {The Origins,p. 199).14For the golden age' myth mong Lorenzo's contemporaries,ee Ernst H. Gombrich, TheRenaissance and the Golden Age', Journal of theWarburg nd Courtauld nstitutes, 4 (1961),306-09, and HarryLevin, TheMyth of the GoldenAge in the Renaissance New York: OxfordUniversity ress,1972),pp. 38-39.15Particularly ulci's Morgante nd Lorenzo's Canzoni a ballo. Lorenzo did, ofcourse,writepoetry nformed yphilosophy, r high' poetry, ut he was particularlynterested n lowpoetryduringthisperiod. See Paolo Orvieto,Lorenzo de' Medici (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1976),PP- 35-38.


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606 Ficino, Poliziano, and 'Le stanze per la giostra'to have appropriately 'elevated' poetry: high poetry was not possible without aunion with philosophy.Ficino did not have to return to antiquity, however, to find poets that com-bined their art with philosophy. He had only to turn to the trio of Cavalcanti,Dante, and Petrarch to find verse filled with philosophical concepts. The poetryof Guido Cavalcanti (c. 1250-1300) seemed to reflect many of Ficino's ownideas. Ficino himself wrote that *Guido Cavalcante, philosopho, tutte questecose artificiosamente chiuse ne' sua versiV6 Dante, too, was praised by Ficino.In the preface to his vernacular translation of Dante's De monarchia, Ficinodescribed Dante as a philosophical poet who embellished his books with manyPlatonic thoughts.17 Ficino, then, cast Dante as one of his Platonic predeces-sors.18 Tuscan poetry should therefore be studied for the Valori fondamentalidelPidealismo filosofico classico-cristiano'.19

Ficino's contribution to the debate about high vernacular poetry was hisvalidation of the Tuscan poetic tradition as an important imitative source. Hedid this by ofTering an innovative approach to the Trecento writers: one whichsought to locate and extract the philosophical elements of the stilnovo tradition.Addressing the Duecento and Trecento vernacular poets as moral 'philoso-phers' in poetic clothing resolved several issues raised by the ambition of creat-ing works which could claim to represent an era of a golden culture. An age ofsuperlative culture needed to have poetry, and it needed a poetry that elevatedthe cultural tradition. For late fifteenth-century Florence, that cultural tradi?tion was both Roman and Tuscan, classical and vernacular. A way to synthesizethis dual inheritance had to be found. The new poetry had also, by definition,to be in a refined and grand style, and this required the poetic incorporation ofphilosophical ideas. Through an imitation of the Tuscan poets, philosophicalconcepts could be simultaneously co-opted by contemporary poetry, while theclassics of the vernacular tradition could be elevated to the same value systemas those of antiquity.It is perhaps in this that Ficino's influence on Poliziano can best be discerned.Poliziano attempts a degree of synthesis of classical and Tuscan poetic sourcesthat went far beyond that of his predecessors. As will shortly be illustrated,Poliziano turned to his Tuscan predecessors for the bulk of the philosophicalconcepts which ensured Le stanze was high poetry.16Ficino,// ibro elVAmore,d. byS. Niccoli (Florence: Olschki,1987),vn. i. 7. Ficinofollowsthis statementwitha fairlyong explicationofCavalcanti's famous Donna me prega'. However,the source for Ficino's readingof Cavalcanti comes froma rather naccuratecommentary nCavalcanti's Canzone by Egidio Colonna: see Sears Jayne'snotes to his translation f Ficino'sCommentaryn Plato's 'Symposium' Dallas: Spring Publications,1985), p. 174. See also M.Ciavolella, 'Ficino's Interpretationf Donna meprega', in Ficino and RenaissanceNeoplatonism,ed. byKonrad Eisenbichler nd Olga Pugliese (Toronto: Dovehouse Editions,1986), pp. 39-49.See also Lorenzo's comments n Cavalcanti n his Comento n his sonnets.17Paul O. Kristeller,Marsilio Ficino as a Man of Letters nd the Glosses Attributed o him ntheCaetani CodexofDante', RenaissanceQuarterly, 6 (1983), 1-27 (p. 10).18Ficino's desire to see Dante as a Platonist s reflected yhis misinterpretationf a passageof De monarchia.Kristellerwrites that t reflects icino's rejectionof the Aristotelian onceptin Dante's textaccording o which man as a combination f soul and bodyis corruptible. icinochangesthe text n such a waythat ccording ohisownPlatonicview thebodyalone iscorruptible('Marsilio Ficino as a Man ofLetters',p. 10n. 30).19Mazzacurati, I problema torico, . 63


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CHRISTINA STOREY 607Although Ficino's project, and his promotion of the 'philosophical' con?tent of Tuscan poetry, established the framework for new vernacular poetry,the central issue of literary style remained. The question was: how to write

philosophical poetry that avoided an excessively exhortatory and (Ciceronian)rhetorical tone and instead embraced classical (Greek) eloquence? The solutionlay in a style which allowed the philosophical content to be 'hidden' within thepoetry rather than explicitly announced. Dante may have been a philosophicalpoet, but his didactic use of philosophy was far from hidden. Although Ficinohad received at least a rudimentary humanist education, he was 'at times criticalof the rhetorical mode of writing as meretricious and insincere'.20 PersonallyFicino preferred, both in his own writings and in Plato's, the use of mysteriouslanguage. This choice reflects the distance that Ficino placed between himselfand his predecessors. The earlier humanists placed an emphasis on oratory andtheir rhetorical style aimed at persuasion and (political) power. Their master ofstyle was Cicero, his works on rhetoric being his most popular books.21 Ficino'sstyle, on the other hand, aims at the mystical and the contemplative, one whichsuggests something unspoken rather than explicitly stated.The presence of 'mysterious' language in Plato is the obvious source ofFicino's ideas about style.22 He believed that the writing of philosophers andpoets contained hidden teachings: in his study of the fragments of ancienttheologians, for example, Ficino hoped to find hidden the doctrines ofthe priscatheologia.23 Poetry, for Ficino as for Plato, was a rational art created through thebestowal of divine madness.24 Ficino believed that poetry, as an art ofthe wordand a medium for the divine, spoke best to the soul and its power of intuition.The poet, through his creation of a multi-layered text, could invoke meaningsand thoughts, denotations and connotations, which first appeal directly to thediscursive reason and then, at a sublimer level, to the intuitive. The perceptionof philosophical truths need not be apparent to the casual reader: the philosophymay remain 'hidden' since those who know how to look will find it. In this way,poets could create texts at once exoteric, or obvious in meaning, such as thenarrative of an event such as a joust, and esoteric, or clear in meaning only tothose who had the contextual knowledge necessary to see the 'deeper' meaningsencoded by the poet in philosophically symbolic language.

The solution to the early Laurentian dilemma of poetic style, then, wasrooted in the ability of philosophical poetry to convey its truths in an implicit,esoteric way. Elegance of style and beauty of form could be maintained ifthe pedagogical function of philosophic poetry was hidden. The poet couldrely on well-placed strategic symbolism to suggest further meaning, to induce,gently and eloquently, the reader to look beyond the textual surface to the20Hankins,Plato in theRenaissance, , 270.21Amongtheearliest extsprintedtaking his s an exampleof establishedpopularity)were Deoratore, rutus, nd Orator n 1465; De inventionend Rhetorica d Herenniumpseudo-Cicero)in 1470.22See Don Cameron Allen, MysteriouslyMeant: The Rediscovery f Pagan SymbolismndAllegorical nterpretationntheRenaissanceBaltimore:JohnsHopkinsPress,1970), p. 134.23Field, TheOrigins, . 11324MichaelAllen, castes:Marsilio Ficino's nterpretationfPlato's 'Sophist' Berkeley:Univer?sity f CaliforniaPress,1989), p. 156.


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608 Ficino, Poliziano, and 'Le stanze per la giostra'hidden mystery. Ficino himself wove Christian and pagan mythology together,mobilizing both to illustrate subtler aspects of the 'hidden meaning'. Pagandivinities and myths were emptied of their traditional content and reascribed amore 'accurate' significance by Ficino. His novel mobilization of pagan imageswas taken up by Poliziano, who used classical mythology in Le stanze as adevice to reinforce the poem's philosophical concepts through the creation ofbeautifully sensual images.Ficino's emphasis on the importance of sight suggests that in his hierarchy ofthe arts, those that concern themselves with hearing and sight rank at the top.25This was strong support for the belief that beautiful things have, in themselves,a real moral value. They could be admired for their beauty because, in theprocess, anyone with the right orientation could make them into worthy objectsof contemplation. This was a neat escape from the Augustinian conceptionthat those things that aimed at enjoyment for their own sake were idolatrousor sinful.26 The production of visual (and aural) beauty in the arts of poetryand painting could now justify itself on the grounds that their beauty served ahigher function. For the poet Poliziano, this translated into the utilization of ahighly sensual language to evoke richly detailed images for his reader. A fusionof mythological subject matter with beauty of style allowed the pagan figures tosuggest 'deeper' meanings, thus elevating the work and providing justificationfor the display of beauty.Given the episodic structure of the poem,27 my textual analysis will be intwo parts. The poem's narrative, centred around Julio, pauses to explore themythological enclave ofthe realm of Venus. Since these stanzas contain the onlyplausible intertextual reference to Ficino and have consequently been analysedas a poetic tour de force of Ficinian Neoplatonism, they will be consideredseparately from the narrative thread that begins with the lovers' meeting, re-sumes with Julio's dream, and ends with his prayer. The essential thematicsof the stilnovo story of this sequence will be examined before returning to theproblematic, and elusive, mythological episode. Poliziano's poetic response toFicino will be seen to exert itself indirectly through narrative and style, ratherthan through textual references and 'keys'.Ernest Hatch Wilkins judged Petrarch's Trionfi as 'the most triumphantpoem of the early Renaissance' ,28 and it is clear that the text had a wide circu-lation in manuscript long before the 1460s and the advent of printing in Italy.29Poliziano was certainly familiar with the poem, and its genre, since this idea let-

25Michael Allen, The Platonism fMarsilio Ficino: A Study ofhis Phaedrus'Commentary,tsSources and GenesisBerkeley:University fCaliforniaPress,1984), pp. 51-52. It is clearthatofthetwo,hearing nd sight,Ficino intended to subordinate ight ohearing' p. 51).26AlfonsoProcaccini,Alberti and the "Framing" of Perspective',JournalofAesthetics ndArt Criticism, 30 (1981), 29-39 (p- 33)- Procaccini uses theAugustiniancategoriesof uti (useofthings) ndfrui enjoyment fthings) o make his analysisthatpleasureshould be predicatedon use.27Guido Di Pino has commentedmostexplicitly n theepisodicnature of thepoem. See his'Gusto figurativo ellapoesia volgaredel Poliziano', Lettere taliane,7 (1955), 130-44.28Cited in D. D. Carnicelli,LordMorley's Tryumphes fFrauncesPetrarckeCambridge,MA:HarvardUniversity ress,1971), p. 20.29On the wide circulation f the Trionfi,ee Carl Appel, Die Triumphe rancescoPetrarcas nkritischem exteherausgegebenHalle a.S.: Niemeyer, 901).


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CHRISTINA STOREY 609teraria was 'una tradizione espressiva vivamente suggestiva e sollecitante nellafantasia del Poliziano ai tempi delle stanze'.30 Indeed, in the brief sketch ofltalian literary history at the end ofthe Nutricia, quoted at the outset of this ar?ticle, Poliziano notes Petrarch only for his Trionfi.31 Choosing this poetic genreeasily permitted the use of both classical and vernacular echoes. It was also onethat Poliziano could reshape to conform to the poetic criteria of high poetry.The genre of 'una serie organica di trionfi' was one with a 'carattere allegoricoe allusivo alla eterna leggenda dell'uomo'.32 Poliziano was able to combine thepopular form of an epic-chivalric poem with the more elevated poetic model ofthe triumph. The triumphal sequence of Love, Chastity, Death, Fortune, andfinally Fame also allowed Poliziano to mobilize the archetypal stilnovo story of aman transformed into a lover/poet by the appearance of a 'miraculous' woman,the Beloved's transformation into a guiding Muse through Death, and thelover's subsequent inspiration to 'deeds' (or poetry) that would ensure Fame.Poliziano was therefore able to ground Le stanze's conception of Love, andits effects, in the 'vaga tendenza platonica degli antichi poeti toscani',33 ofthestilnovo and Petrarchan tradition, rather than in the more systematic Platonismof Ficino's philosophy.34The example of Petrarch's Trionfi is felt not only in Le stanze'? generalnarrative scheme but also in its language. In the introduction of Julio as adevotee of Diana, Julio chastizes those who follow love, telling them:

non nudrir di lusinghe un van furore,che di pigra lascivia e d'ozio sorge.Costui che '1 vulgo errante chiama Amoree dolce insania a chi piu acuto scorge.(1. 13)

This is an echo of Petrarch's Trionfo d'Amore: 'Questo e colui che '1 mondochiama Amore' (1. 76), and ofE nacque d'otio e di lascivia humana,Nudrito di pensier dolci e soavi,Facto signore e dio da gente vana.(1. 82-84)

Poliziano's autonomous shaping of his vernacular material, and of the tradi?tional narrative and philosophical conception of love, is apparent in the languageof the second stanza. Here Poliziano interweaves his poetic language with vo-cabulary (here italicized) that evokes the stilnovo and Petrarchan tradition of alove as an ennobling force:3530Branca,Poliziano e Vumanesimo,. 46.31On the particularpopularityof the Trionfin Tuscany,see Carlo Dionisotti, Fortuna delPetrarcanelQuattrocento',/ta/z"tfedioevale umanistica, 7 (1974), 61-113 (pp. 68-70).32Branca,Poliziano e Vumanesimo,. 53 n. 5.33Paul O. Kristeller,tudies n RenaissanceThoughtndLetters, vols Rome: Edizioni di Storiae Letteratura, 956-96), 1,214.34 It should be pointedout that theveryfashionableness f Ficino's Platonicteachings mongLorenzo's contemporaries elped, n turn, o foster greater eceptivityo the ndirect latonismofthe Due- and Trecento yricists.35My readingof thisstanza is based on Mazzacurati, I problema torico, . 90.


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610 Ficinoy Poliziano, and (he stanze per la giostra'O bello iddio, ch'al corper gli occhi spiridolce disir d'amaro pensier pienoe pasciti di pianto e di sospirinudrisci l'alme d'un dolce veleno,gentilfai divenir cid che tumiri,ne pud star cosa vil dentro al tuo seno;Amor, del quale i' son sempre soggetto;porgi la man al mio basso intelletto.(I. 2)

Certainly, the Tuscan tradition of presenting human love poetically as an en-nobling force was grounded in general Platonic concepts linking the image ofthe Beloved to the Beloved's soul, and so to Beauty itself; this in turn generatedthe love that causes the lover's elevation. Trecento writers had found their Pla?tonism in the Christian tradition, beginning with Augustine, and consequentlytheir use of Platonic concepts did not constitute a 'dottrina ben determinata'.36A reader, therefore, must not mistake this traditional Platonism of the secondstanza for an indication that Poliziano intends an interpretation of the poemwithin a Ficinian Platonic context. Poliziano maintained as autonomous a poeticstance toward his vernacular models as he did with regard to Ficino's philo?sophy.37 If Poliziano had wanted to alter significantly the philosophical contentof the stilnovo story, we can reasonably assume that he would have signalled thischange through a significant change in language. The language of the abovestanza illustrates, however, that Poliziano chose to retain the most evocative ofthe stilnovo and Petrarchan vocabulary, thereby suggesting that the philosoph?ical concepts of Le stanze are those of the 'antichi poeti toseani\38The firsttriumph, or transformation, occurs when Julio is struck by Cupid'sarrow, and the white doe metamorphoses into the miraculous figure of Simo-netta. A similar degree of linguistic linkage with the stilnovo and Petrarch isagain seen in Poliziano's description of these events. The description of Cupidin the Triumph of Chastity,

Quei vincitor che primo era all'offesa,Dal man dritta lo stral, da l'altra l'arco,E la corda a l'orecchia avea gia stesa,39is moved in an Ovidian direction through its elaboration with more visualdetails so that it becomes:

Tosto Cupido entro a' begli occhi ascosoAl nervo adatta del suo stral la cocca,Poi tira quei col braccio poderosoTal che raggiugne Tuna alPaltra cocca;36Kristeller, tudies n RenaissanceThoughtndLetters,, 214.37One critic, or xample,has describedPoliziano's relationship o Petrarch s one which was'decisamente al di fuori di una linea d'imitazionedi tipo strettamente colastico a collocare ilsuo rapportocol Petrarcasu di un piu vastopiano di comune civilta etteraria'Mazzacurati, 17problematorico, . 75).38Kristeller, tudies n RenaissanceThoughtndLetters, ,214.39Petrarch,Trionfo ella Castitd, v. 34-36, inRime,Trionfipoesie atine, d. byF.Neri Milanand Naples: Ricciardi,1951), p. 510.


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CHRISTINA STOREY 6llLa man sinistra con l'oro focoso,La destra poppa con la corda tocca.(i. 40)

Poliziano also turns to Petrarch's poetry for the most striking visual descrip?tions of Simonetta. For example, the following lines from Petrarch's Rerumvulgarium fragmenta are recollected in the presentation of the 'marvellous' vi?sion of Simonetta:le crespe chiome d'or puro lucentee '1 lampeggiar de Tangelico risoche solean fare in terra un paradiso.(RVF, 292. 5-7)e '1 ciel di vaghe et lucide favilles'accende intorno e 'n vista si rallegrad'esser fatto seren da si belli occhi.(RVF, 192. 12-14)Dal bei seren de le tranquille cigliasfavillan si le mie due stelle fidech'altro lume non e ch'infiammi et guidechi d'amar altamente si consiglia.(RVF, 160. 5-8)

Poliziano weaves these images together and shapes them into the descriptionof a woman of ideal beauty:Candida e ella, e candida la vestama pur di rose e fiordipinta e d'erbe;lo inanellato crin dall'aurea testascende in la fronte umilmente superba.Rideli a torno tutta la foresta,e quanto puo suo cure disacerba;nell'atto regalmente e mansueta,e pur col ciglio le tempeste acqueta.Folgoron gli occhi d'un dolce sereno,ove sue face tien Cupido ascose;l'aier d'intorno si fa tutto amenoovunque gira le luce amorose.Di celeste letizia il volto ha pieno,dolce dipinto di ligustri e rose.(1. 43-44)

If we look further into these lines, a multiplicity of fragmented literary re?collections appears beneath the primary Petrarchan subtext. The single line'Folgoron gli occhi d'un dolce sereno' fuses references to Propertius, Ovid,Claudian, Horace; the rest of the stanza recalls Cavalcanti, Arnaut Daniel,Dante, and Claudian.40 Clearly, then, Poliziano also enriched the Petrarchanlanguage and images by creating a dense series of intertextual references.Poliziano certainly used a great deal of Petrarch's language and imagery inhis description of Simonetta and the encounter in the forest. This linguisticlinkage between Simonetta and Laura (and by association, with Beatrice) can4? Greene,TheLight n Troy,p. 168.


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612 Ficino, Poliziano, and cLe stanze per la giostrayonly have been intentional.41 Poliziano has taken a well-established and familiarlyric narrative sequence and re-presented it, updated it, and transformed itthrough his use of highly visual and detailed language. Like Laura, Simonettais presented as a model of physical perfection.42 She is introduced as Julio'sinspirational Beloved and in this role Simonetta absorbs the function of Laura,who had 'quickened into life the feeble germ of virtue that Nature had sown inmy heart. It was she who turned my youthful soul away from all that was base,who drew me as it were by a grappling chain, and forced me to look upwards.'43The obvious, and clearly intended, placement of Simonetta within the de?scriptive and functional tradition of the donna di gentil cor may well reflectFicino's influence. He had noted the Platonic concepts in this tradition, andhad signalled that as such, they were worth poetic imitation. This does notmean, however, that Ficino proposed that the poetic form be kept and the'vague' concepts replaced with his own. Nor does the poem present sufficientlinguistic evidence to suppose that Poliziano intended this traditional Platonismto be read as Ficinian philosophy.Clearly, then, Poliziano presents Simonetta, and Julio's initial response tohis sudden 'innamoramento', in keeping with the established Tuscan lyrictradition.44 A woman of miraculous beauty appears. Her beauty, indicative of agentil cor, causes him to fall immediately and completely in love. The experienceof love transforms him into a poet. Love, he discovers, as stanza i. 60 suggests, isboth uplifting and bitter-sweet. One would have to stretch Poliziano's languagethroughout the above stanzas near to the breaking-point to transform suchstandard Petrarchan imagery and stilnovo Platonic concepts into a convincingexample of 'Ficinian' doctrine.The triumphal theme resumes in 11. 28 with Julio's dream. The events ofthefollowing eighteen stanzas continue the essential stilnovo thematics through?out the death of the Beloved, her 'resurrection' as a guiding and inspirationalmemory, and the subsequent promise of Fame. Cupid calls for help from Julio,who doesn't know how to respond. Cupid tells Julio in 11. 31 that he mustfocus his attention away from Simonetta, and must instead concentrate on win-ning a 'trionfal palma'. The overtones of military victory maintain the pretextof the epic-chivalric atmosphere. The stronger intertextual association of the'trionfal palma' is, however, with the poet/lover's acquisition of fame throughthe production of poetry inspired by the unobtainable Beloved. Reinforcingthis association is the arrival in the next stanza of Glory, History, and Poetry,who have come to aid Julio in his quest. Within the same stanza, Simonetta isresurrected as Fortune and the promise of Fame is suggested:41As MartinMcLaughlinmakesclear nLiterarymitationnthe talianRenaissance, oliziano'sconceptualizationnd use of mitatio onsistentlyeworked amiliar ragments ithmore obscurereferences o create new forms. oliziano employedthismethod n his Latin and Greekliterarystudies as in his ltalian pp. 209-16).42Rodolfo M. Jodi, II petrarchismo el Poliziano', Studipetrarcheschi,(1951), 59-89 (p. 67).43Petrarch,TheSecret, rans.byWilliamDraper (London: Chatto and Windus,i9ii),p. 121.44Poliziano's critical ngagementwiththis yric radition s further videncedbyhis introduc?tory etter otheRaccoltaaragonese.n this,heagainsuggests ubtle and effectiveeinterpretationsof the yric radition.


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CHRISTINA STOREY 613Poi vede lieta in forma di Fortunasurger sua ninfa e rabbellirsi il mondo,e prender lei di sua vita governo,e lui con seco farper fama eterno.

(n. 34)However, before Julio can give himself over to the pursuit of Fame (literallythrough the joust, metaphorically through poetry), an important modificationof Fortune must occur (11. 35-37). Poliziano conceives of Fortune as a forcethat 'a nostre cose allenta e stringe il morso' (n. 35), but believes that men mustnot waste time in lamenting her cruel actions. He writes: 'Beato qual da leisuo' pensier solve, | e tutto drento all virtu s'involve' (11. 36), and further: 'Ofelice colui che lei non cura | e che a' suoi gravi assalti non si arrende' (11. 37).This orientation toward Fortune reflects Poliziano's humanist modernity, forit echoes Taffermazione rinascimentale che "virtu vince fortuna"'.45Exhorting Julio to view his Beloved's Death and Resurrection as Muse/Fortune from a humanist perspective implies several things. Poliziano retainsthe Beloved's function as Muse, but announces that she should become aninspiration both for noble poetry and for action. Poliziano places a particularemphasis on the ennobling function of love: yet, as Quint and others point out,he also reshapes the conception of ennoblement from one which grounds itselfin Christian theology to one which saw love as the catalyst which transformshuman potential into humanitas.*6The moral of the stilnovo theme has thus become its power to inspire the loverto noble activity (jousting and poetry, for example) in the pursuit of humanitas,rather than simply to effect spiritual elevation. Certainly the link between theBeloved and the poet's work was prefigured in the Tuscan writers. However,they had, to varying degrees, subordinated the beloved's secular to her spiritualfunction. Poliziano reverses the equation: the emphasis on the poetically visualdetails in Simonetta's presentation, and the final stanza,

Con voi men vegno, Amor Minerva e Gloria,che '1 vostro foco tutto el cor m'avampa;da voi spero acquistar l'alta vittoria,che tutto acceso son di vostra lampa;datemi aita si ch'ogni memoriasegnar si possa di mia eterna stampa, (n. 46)suggests that the spiritual, philosophical function of the stilnovo story was nowhidden below the secular, poetic function. Love should not inspire lamentingor burlesque poetry; it should inspire the poet to render as beautifully and aseruditely as possible the poetic experience of inspiration. Poliziano presentsan example of such poetry grounded in beautifully evocative images in themythological enclave of Venus's realm.If the narrative of Le stanze demonstrates Poliziano's masterful understand?ing and shaping of the Tuscan tradition, the episode of the realm of Venusdisplays a similar control over his classical material. The primary model for45Branca,Poliziano eVumanesimo,. 52 n. 3.46 See the ntroduction o David Quint's translation f Le stanze Amherst:University f Mas-sachusettsPress,1979).


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614 Ficino, Poliziano, and sLe stanze per la giostra'this episode is a passage from the Epithalamium de nuptiis Honorii Augusti bythe Roman poet Claudian.47 Poliziano's descriptions ofthe realm of Venus, themountain in Cyprus, the return of Cupid, Venus's palace, and the sending outof the putti all echo similar descriptions in Claudian. Claudian also offered analternative to Petrarch's lists of allegorical, mythological, and historical figuresand, through his use of Claudian's model, Poliziano was able to produce apoetry of personified attributes.48There is, however, a significant difference between Claudian and Poliziano.Venus, in Claudian's version, does not recline on her bed and certainly not withMars. Claudian wrote:

illa suum dictis adfatur talibus agmen:'Gradivum, nostri comites, arcete parumper,ut soli vacet aula mihi'.49In Poliziano, however, there is the following description of the scene awaitingCupid's return:

Trovolla assisa in letto fuor del lembo,pur mo' di Marte sciolta dalle braccia,il qual riverso li giacea nel grembopascendo gli occhi pur della sua faccia:di rose sovra a lor pioveva un nemboper rinnovarli all'amorosa traccia;ma Vener dava a lui con voglie prontemille baci negli occhi e nella fronte.(i. 122)This description fails into one of two distinct developments of the classicalmyth of Mars and Venus. One version, which predominated in the MiddleAges, was that Mars had committed adultery with Venus, wife of Vulcan;Vulcan, who discovered them, had held them up to ridicule and scorn. Thisrendering derived from Homer through Ovid.5? Another, older interpretationcould be found in Hesiod and Pausanias in which Mars had been Venus'slegitimate husband long before Homer married her off to Vulcan, and they hadhad a daughter Harmony.51 Both these variations were known and exploited inlate Quattrocento Florence: Lorenzo wrote a poem, Amori di Venere e Marte,which recounted the Ovidian version, while Poliziano and Botticelli presentedrenditions of the Hesiodic variant.52

Clearly, then, stanza 122 had other sources in addition to Claudian. Poli?ziano's most likely model for such a 'Hesiodic' description of Mars and Venuswas Lucretius's De rerum natura. Lucretius had described Mars47Claudian,Epithalamium,d. byU. Frings Meisenheim:Hain, 1975), 49-91.48Poliziano,in1.73-76, introducesPaura, Piacere,Lacrimee Pallore,Risata,and Gioventu.49Claudian, Epithalamium, 89-91. McNair translates:Then Venus thus addresses her atten-dantthrong: Comradesmine,keep awayfor while thegod of war that hepalace maybe minealone'" ('The Bed ofVenus',p. 42).50McNair, The Bed ofVenus',p. 44.5 ErwinPanofsky,tudies n conography: umanistic hemesn theArtoftheRenaissanceNewYork: OxfordUniversity ress,1939), p. 163.52McNair, The Bed ofVenus',p. 45. This would be Botticelli's Venus nd Mars.


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CHRISTINA STOREY 615in gremium qui saepe tuum sereiicit aeterno devictus vulnere amoris,atque ita suspiciens tereticervice repostapascit amore avidos inhians in te, dea, visus,

eque tuo pendet resupini spiritus ore.53Ficino, too, had described a harmonious relationship between the deities,and this is the one plausible textual link between the authors to be found in Lestanze. Consequently, it has often been cited in conjunction with this stanza,and has been used as the pretext for forcing a Ficinian reading of the poem asa whole. In II libro delVAmore, Ficino writes:

Marte e superiore di fortezza, perche egli fagli huomini piu forti.Venere doma Marte,impero che quando Marte nella nativita dello huomo signoreggia, dona magnanimita eiracundia, e se Venere proximamente vi si aggiugne, benche non impedisca la magna?nimita da Marte concessa, nientedimeno raffrena l vitio della iracundia, ove pare che,faccendo Marte piu clemente, lo domi. Ma Marte non doma mai Venere. (v. viii. 7-9)Although this passage is astrological in its analysis, it is reasonable to assumesome link between it and De rerum natura's version of the myth.54 Polizianodid not, however, need Ficino to recover this variant for him: De rerum naturahad been widely read since the 1420s. It is unreasonable, therefore, to assumethat Ficino was the only source of Poliziano's conception of the deities' rela?tionship. To posit that this astrological passage proves that the psychology oflove suggested in this mythological enclave follows a Ficinian system is highlyspeculative and unconvincing. If Poliziano really had wanted to present, in amythological guise, a poetic explanation of Ficino's philosophy, one would ex-pect to find more, and closer textual links. As it is, Le stanze's Tuscan Platonismis generally suggestive of Ficino's?but this is only to be expected since bothare rooted in Plato. In the realm of Venus, the loose textual reference to II librodelV Amore suggests only that the myths and deities described are intended toevoke some 'deeper' association, since Ficino's writings had established theiruse as illustrative and esoteric devices.The majority of the most strikingly sensual descriptions of pagan deitiesand mythological figures occurs in 1. 93-119. This section includes Poliziano'sekphrastic rehearsal of the intaglios, fashioned by Vulcan, that adorn the doorsof Venus's palace. The employment of ekphrasis had a long classical history, andhad been used by the Tuscan writers. With Dante, the use of ekphrasis acquireda didactic function. In the Purgatorio, Dante provides three illustrations ofhumility (x) and thirteen examples of punished pride, displayed on pavementtombs, as a 'puntare de la rimembranza' (xn. 64).The use of ekphrasis had established poetic and didactic functions. It con-stituted a test ofthe poet's linguistic skill in creating visual art through words;it allowed for the interesting presentation of mythological or intellectual infor?mation; and it enabled the poet to suggest some allegorical or esoteric mean?ing hidden within. Ekphrasis was the perfect literary vehicle through which a

53Lucretius,De rerum atura, d. by CyrilBailey,2nd edn (Oxford:OxfordUniversity ress,1922),1.33-37-54 Ficino wras eadingLucretius in the 1450s when he experiencedhis 'spiritual'crisis,andit is clear that Lucretius's Epicureanismhad notable,early nfluence n Ficino (Kristeller,ThePhilosophy, . 24 n. 22).


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616 Ficino, Poliziano, and 'Le stanze per la giostra'Ficinian style and a 'nuova classicita'55 in the ltalian language could be created.Poliziano employed ekphrasis to both ends. In keeping with the stylistic choiceto suggest hidden meaning rather than announce it, the didactic function oftheintaglios is implicit, as are the Platonic concepts of the stilnovo love narrative.The intaglios sculpted by Vulcan, the divine artificer and founder of cities,can be divided into three groups: the birth of love among the gods, love betweengods and mortals, and human love. The basic philosophic concept runningthrough all the scenes is the same as the narrative: that love is an ennobling andcivilizing force. Metamorphosis and ascent (or ennoblement) are emphasizedin each group. Venus is born and descends to earth; Jove, Neptune, and Saturnall transform themselves into various forms. Love, even in its lowest form, hasthe power to inspire 'noble' action. Polyphemus, the huge hairy giant of the lastpanel, is motivated by his love of Galatea and 'ha gran voglia di saper notare |per andare a trovarla insin nel mare' (i. 117).The ennobling function of love is subtly suggested and effected by creat-ing strongly sensual and appealing visual images. In the case of Polyphemus,the image is amusing but endearing. Venus's birth (1. 99-100), on the otherhand, is dominated by purity of beauty. Poliziano thus found in the exerciseof ekphrasis a model that could be mobilized to present discrete 'quadri' thatwere as sensually appealing as they were suggestive of an esoteric reading hid-ing beneath the surface. The rape of Europa (1. 105-06), for example, reads likea painting. Poliziano's use of this example to reinforce the elevating functionof love requires further contemplation because the reader is invited to figureout how Europa is ennobled by Jove's rather forceful love. Their very beautyand prodigious variety signal to the reader that these myths may have esotericdepths: they present a multifaceted view of love 'nella sua istintivita e sen-sualita, e raramente nella sua tenerezza, ma anche, nella sua ideale funzionenobilitante'.56

Throughout the narrative of Le stanze, Poliziano demonstrated his masteryof the Tuscan tradition. Here, in the intaglios, there is a similar display of bril-liance. The descriptions in stanzas 1. 93-119 echo, at least, six Homeric Hymns,Hesiod, Ovid, Tibullus, Horace, Catullus, Theocritus, and Virgil.57 Combininga synthetic approach to his sources with the use of beautifully sensual language,Poliziano's realm of Venus is able to reproduce in the vernacular a 'clima dieterna e ideale bellezza creato dai poeti classici'.58I have suggested that, rather than search for Ficinian doctrines, the poetand philosopher's relationship may be better understood from both larger andmore narrow perspectives. The aesthetic innovations that Ficino promoted,and Poliziano affected, show themselves in Le stanze's new mobilization of55Mazzacurati, I problematorico, . 79.56Renzo Lo Cascio, 'II lavorodell'ape e la poesia dell Stanze', in // oliziano e il suotempo:Attidel IV convegnonternazionale i Studi sul RinascimentoFlorence: Sansoni, 1957), pp. 289-331

(P- 327)-57RonnieH. Terpening, Poliziano's Treatmentof a Classical Topos: Ekphrasis, ortal to theStanze', Italian Quarterly, 7 (1973), 39-71.58NatalinoSapegno, II sentimentoumanistico la poesia del Poliziano', inCompendio i storiadella letteraturataliana,ed. byNatalinoSapegno, 3 vols (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1975?77),I:Dalle origini lla finedelQuattrocento,p. 723-32 (p. 729).


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CHRISTINA STOREY 617the vernacular canon and its suggestion of a 'deeper' meaning. These in turnresulted from new literary values aiming at esoteric elegance of style, and froma related effortto revive Tuscan poetic Platonism. With a clearer understandingof Le stanze's relationship with Ficinian philosophy and poetics, we can nowbriefly consider a possible new view ofthe fragment's significance.59I offer an alternative interpretation based on my understanding of the poemas an experiment in style, presented for Lorenzo's personal poetic benefit.As a subject, the recent joust provided appropriate material for the demandsof the epic-chivalric genre, and the 'love affair' between Giuliano and Simo?netta, followed by Simonetta's death in 1476, supplied a perfect vehicle for thearchetypal stilnovo 'love story'. Who might the poem's audience have been?Given the poet's close relationship with Lorenzo, and the poem's opening de-dication to 'ben nato Laur, [la] causa, [il] fin di tutte le mie voglie' (1. 4), it isfair to assume that Lorenzo, and the circle around him, was the main audience.It is clear that the poem intends its readers to understand Giuliano for Julio,and that the Beloved is a poetic rendering of Simonetta Cattaneo.While Julio/Giuliano and the Beloved/Simonetta never emerge from theirmythological presentation, Lorenzo, in Book 11 4-8 and 14), is addressed bothas a historical personage and as a poet. Throughout the poem, the historicalrealities ofthe characters and their actions are lost in the process of Poliziano'smythologizing. The function of the poem as didactic is difficult to reconcilewith the obvious attempt at poetic elegance, and with the near perfect mainte-nance of the poem's mythological cast.6? Although Poliziano included severalpoetic images that corresponded to the historical images ofthe joust,61 the onlycharacter who is presented with any historical accuracy is Lorenzo.One could easily conclude that Le stanze's poetic style, with its lyricism andbeauty, was much more successful than its narrative;62 this in turn suggeststhat the exploration of these issues was in fact the poem's raison d'etre.63 Thepoem's function would then become that of an experiment, or display case:within Le stanze, one could find an example of a new high style that synthesized

59Various interpretations ave maintainedthat Le stanze should be understoodas a form fpolitical propaganda. This viewhas found ts most articulatevoice in JeanieG. Moore, 'MediciMyth-Making:Poliziano's Stanze cominciate er la giostradel MagnificoGiuliano de' Medici',RenaissancePapers, 36 (1989), 1-20. A related view exploresthe poem as a personalmessagedirected t Giuliano withregardto his (lack) ofpoliticalactivity: ee W. Welliver,The Subjectand Purpose ofPoliziano's Stanze', Italica, 48 (1971), 34-50.60Gaetano Trombatore, La trasfigurazione itica nella poesia del Poliziano', in Dalle originialla finedelQuattrocento,p. 732-39 (pp. 733-34). Trombatorepointsout that he elevationof allcharacters o a mythological lane is achieved n theopeningstanzas and remains o throughoutthepoem.61 For example,theappearanceof Pallas in Book 11, nd Giuliano's standardfor he 1475 oustwith Pallas paintedon itbyBotticelli.62 'Ma l'argomentodel poema? E un pretesto, alido solo a disporre a materia' Giuseppe DeRobertis,L'ottava del Poliziano', in Dalle origini lla finedelQuattrocento,p. 739-48 (p. 743)).63Critics uch as Greene,TheLight nTroy, nd Paul Colilli,Poliziano'sScienceofTropes NewYork:Lang, 1989),have descendedto a deep subtextual ndpsychologicalevel n their nalysesofPoliziano'swork, nd theirnterpretationfthepoemas reflectingoliziano's fear fmultiplicity'dependson their eadings f thefragmentaryubtextual eferences s an indication f Poliziano'sobsessionwith dissemination nd dispersion.I am not convincedthat this is an approach thatyieldsthebestunderstandingf thepoem.Therefore, have chosento examinethepoemin a waythatdoes not nvolve psychologicalprofile fPoliziano's relationshipo hispoem.


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618 Ficino, Poliziano, and (Le stanze per la giostraythe vernacular with the classical, while presenting it with an esoteric form ofbeauty. That Poliziano would address Lorenzo so personally, and as a poet, isnot surprising ifwe remember that they were close personal friends and shareda love of poetry that bound them artistically. Given that Lorenzo was open toand desirous of poetic criticism from his friends,64 it is reasonable to concludePoliziano could have conceived of Le stanze as an alternative to Lorenzo'sown, more traditional, love poetry. Indeed, if one looks carefully at Le stanze,it becomes apparent that the poem employs certain strategies that overcomesome shortcomings of Lorenzo's poetry.65The most important of these is the adoption of the third-person voice tonarrate the stilnovo themes. This, in turn, is made possible by recontextualizingthe stilnovo love story within a narrative framework of chivalric tradition, thejoust. Like Pulci before him, Poliziano uses the newly emerging genre of nar?rative poetry, while retaining elements of lyric conventions.66 By removing hispersonal voice, Poliziano was able to tell the familiar and newly renovated lovestory within a larger context, thereby 'reinventing' and reviving an importantgenre in Italian poetry.67 He is no longer restricted to telling the tale, along withall its suggestions of Platonic concepts and ideal beauty, from a personal point ofview.68 He can now place the narrative within a mythological framework whichpermits, and encourages, poetic descriptions of 'le trombe e l'arme'?jousts, forexample.Detaching the poet's first-person voice from that ofthe lover permits a greaterflexibility in describing love and its effects. No longer does the poet himself haveto have a Beloved about whom he writes poetry: he can instead write of both theBeloved and the lover/poet from a removed-subject position. By describing theennobling effect of love on a lover, the poet implicitly refers to his own sourceof inspiration, but it is a far subtler and more elegant reference than that ofthe earlier Tuscan writers. Narrating from a position external to the narrativealso permits the use of poetic devices new to stilnovo traditions, such as theekphrasis of the intaglios, and allows elegant expansion on the 'philosophical'elements of ennobling and humanizing love.It makes sense that Poliziano would have taken this approach to his poetry.As opposed to Lorenzo, whose primary intellectual activity was writing Italianverse, this does not seem to have been Poliziano's 'first' passion. His forays intovernacular poetry are striking for their experimental flavour, as well as for theirdegree of polish, elegance, and eclectic learning. Obviously this was a poet whowas more interested in solving linguistic and stylistic issues than in producing

64Angelo Lipari, The Dolce Stil Novo according o Lorenzo de' Medici (New Haven: Yale Uni?versity ress,1936), pp. 12-13.65By 1478,Lorenzo had writtenearly' poetryn a traditional uscan form. ee Paolo Orvieto,Lorenzo de' Medici (Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1976).66MarkDavie pointsout thatPulci's Stanze per la Giostra 1481), a poemof 160 ottavewhichcelebrated Medici joust in 1469,was 'Poliziano's pointofdeparture': Luigi Pulci's Stanze perLa giostra:Verse and Prose Accountsofa FlorentineJoustof 1469', ltalian Studies,44 (1989),41-58 (p. 42).67The octave form f narrative oetryhad been used byBoccaccio. Poliziano's innovationsnthegenrewere takenup and 'perfected' yAriosto.68The semi-autobiographical/first-personoice ofthe over-poet an be seen inDante, Caval?canti,Petrarch, nd Lorenzo.


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CHRISTINA STOREY 619a large corpus of vernacular verse?just as, in his classical scholarship, he wasinterested in solving typical problems of interpretation rather than producingweighty commentaries.69 And his experiments succeeded. Both Le stanze, as anexample of high vernacular style, and Orfeo, as the first drama in ltalian, laterbecame important models:70 and it is surely plausible that the great scholar-poetintended them to be precisely that.Corpus Christi College, Oxford Christina Storey

69See Poliziano's Miscellanea Florence: Miscominus,1489). See also his Miscellaneorum en-turia secunda,ed. by Vittore Branca (Florence: Olschki, 1978), and AnthonyGrafton,JosephScaliger:A History fClassical Scholarship, : Textual CriticismndExegesis New York: OxfordUniversity ress,1983), pp. 21-43.70Le stanze was a model for ater writers uch as Ariostoand Tasso. Orfeohad a tremendousinfluencen thedevelopmentof ltalian pastoraland opera: see ElizabethA. Newby,A PortraitoftheArtist: TheLegendsof Orpheus nd theirUse in Medieval and RenaissanceAestheticsNewYork:Garland, 1987), pp. 109-21.

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