biography
pronunciation:
[montee]
| sex:
| male
|
| lived:
| (1754–1828)
|
| biography:
| Poet and scholar, born in Alfonsine, Emilia-Romagna, N Italy. He was a member of the Arcadia literary movement from 1775. Under the patronage of Pope Pius VI he wrote the ode ‘Prosopopea di Pericle’ (1779), the poems ‘Il pellegrino apostolico’ (1782) and ‘Feroniade’ (1784), the tragedies Aristodemo (1784–6) and Galeotto Manfredi (1796–8), and the anti-revolutionary narrative poem ‘Bassvilliana’. He spent two years in Paris (1799–1801), where he converted to Napoleon's cause. Back in Italy, he was made official poet and historian of the Kingdom of Italy. During this time his works included Mascheroniana (1801) and the poem ‘Il bardo della Selva Nera’ (1806), both in praise of Napoleon. With the latter's fall, his popularity also waned. Although highly admired for the musicality of his neoclassial poetry, he is now best remembered for his translation of Homer's Iliad (1810). |
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