Antonio Tebaldeo

Italian poet, born at Ferrara, in 1463; died in 1537. His family name (Tebaldi) he changed to Tebaldeo, in consonance with the practice of the Humanists, who sought to Latinize the form of their appellation as much as possible. After serving as tutor to Isabella d’Este and secretary to Lucrezia Borgia, he became an habitué of the court of Leo X at Rome, enjoying the favour of that scholarly pope and the companionship of many of the erudite men and artists then in the Imperial City. He lost all his means in the sack of Rome (1527), and spent the remainder of his life in very narrow circumstances. He wrote verse in both Latin and Italian. His Italian verse is remarkable rather for vices of diction and style than for any poetical excellence. With his artificial manner, his abuse of metaphor, and his studied imagery he was a forerunner of those extravagant versifiers who, in the seventeenth century, developed the movement called Marinism or Secentismo. To Tebaldeo has been ascribed a redaction of Poliziano’s play, “Orfeo”, which aims to make that piece accord better with the principles of classic composition. He figured among the writers of the time who engaged in the discussion concerning the nature of literary Italian. (See his verse in the edition of Venice, 1530, “Di M. Antonio Tebaldeo ferrarese l’opere d’amore”.)