Table Of ContentPANDOLFOC OLLENUCCIOS'SP ECCHIOD' ESOPO 
AND THE PORTRAITO F THE COURTIER 
GIANCARLOF IORENZA 
he ancientf ableso  f Aesop figurep  rominentliyn  Giovanni 
t 
Boccacciod'se fensoe f fictionadli scoursien cludeidn  hisG  enealo- 
gie deorumg entiliuma:  fourteenth-centumryy thographtiecx t 
whichg eneratedex tensivec ommentarIyn.  bookf ourteenB, occac- 
cio advocatest he fables as indispensablep edagogicalt ools, 
especialliym  portantto  the intellectuadle velopmenatn dl eadership 
potentiaol f a prince.I n ordert o providea n illustrativeex ample, 
Boccaccior elatesh ow KingR  oberto f Sicilya, s a boy, 
wass o dullt hati t tookt heu  tmosts killa ndp atiencoe f hism  asterto  teach 
himt he meree lementos f lettersW.  hena llh  is friendsw eren earlyin  de- 
spairo f his doinga nythingh,i sm  asterb, y them  osts ubtles kifla, s it were, 
luredh is mindw  itht he fableso f Aesopi ntos o granda  passionfo rs tudy 
andk nowledgeth, ati n a brieft imeh e wasn ot onlyl earnedin  theL  iberal 
Artsf amiliatro  Italy,b ut alsoe nteredw ithw  onderfukl eennesos f mind 
intot hev eryi nnerm  ysterieosf  sacredp hilosophyIn.  shorth, e madeh im- 
selfa   kingw  hoses uperiolre arninmg enh  aven ot seens inceS olomon.' 
Boccaccioco nsiderAs esop'sfa  blesp rimee xampleos f incredible 
fiction( fabula)o,r  discourse", whichu, ndert he guiseo f invention, 
illustrateosr  provesa ni dea;a nd,a si ts superficiaals pectis  removed, 
the meaningo f the authoris  clear".H2 is definitionre liesi n parto n 
I wish to thank Elizabeth Cropper, CharlesD  empsey, Alexander Nagel, and Nicholas 
Penny for theirh elpfulc ommentso n this text. MartinM  arafiotki indlyc heckedm  y translations 
of Collenuccio'sf ables. I presented a shorterv ersion of my findings at the 2001 conferenceo f 
the Renaissance Society of America. 
I Boccaccio on Poetry, trans. C. OSGOOD,I ndianapolis-NewY  ork, 1956, p. 51. I have 
made a few minor adjustmentst o Osgood's translationf or clarity. 
2 Ibid., p. 48. Boccaccio continues: "The first [kind of fiction] superficiallyl acks all 
appearanceo f truth; for example, when brutes or inanimatet hings converse. Aesop, an an- 
cient Greek, grave and venerable,w  as past master in this form; and though it is a common 
63
GIANCARLO FIORENZA 
the  authority of  the classical author Aulus Gellius, whose Attic 
Nights labels Aesop  "sapiens" because of his ability to nourish 
the mind and perpetuate knowledge through delightful fictions: 
"[...] since he taught what it was salutaryt o call to mind and to rec- 
ommend, not in an austere and dictatorialm  anner, as in the way of 
philosophers, but by inventing witty and entertainingf ables he put 
into men's minds and hearts ideas that were wholesome and care- 
fully considered, while at the same time he enticed their attention".3 
Renaissance authors valued the fables of Aesop as supreme litera- 
ture; they were seen as a window to the wisdom and teachings of 
the ancient world. Boccaccio's endorsement of the fables as benefi- 
cial to the formation of a prince's political identity also earned them 
a central place in Renaissance court culture. 
Pandolfo Collenuccio, while a resident at the Este court of Fer- 
rara,d  eveloped Boccaccio's argumentb  y promoting the reading and 
reciting of Aesop's fables in all aspects of court life. In particular,h is 
vernaculare xpository dialogue Specchiod  'Esopo (Mirroro f Aesop), 
composed around 1497 in the guise of a fable, offers a varietyo f strate- 
gies on how to integrate fables into both public and private address. 
A study of his dialogue will provide insight into the ways in which 
members of court society experienced Aesop's fables. Moreover, an 
examinationo f the receptiono f Collenuccio'Ss pecchiod Esopow  ill reveal 
a literary and cultural context  in which to  decipher  a unique 
iconography found in Italianp ortraitureo f the earlys ixteenthc entury. 
Collenuccio was born in Pesaro in 1444, and studied law at the 
University of Padua.4 In 1469 he married his first wife, the noble- 
woman Beatrice Costabili, in Ferrara.R  enowned for his oratorical 
and popularf ormb oth in city and country,y et Aristotle,c hief of the Peripateticsa, nd a 
man of divinei ntellect,d id not scornt o use it in his books". 
3  AULUS GELLIUS,T  he Attic Nights, trans.J . C. ROLFE, Loeb ClassicalL  ibrary, 
CambridgeM, ass.,1 984,2 .29.1: "[...] cum quaeu tiliam  onitus uasuquee rant,n on severe 
nequei mperiosep raecepite t censuit,u t philosophism os est, sed festivosd electabilesque 
apologosc ommentusr, es salubritera c prospicientera nimadversaisn  mentesa nimosque 
hominumc um audiendiq uadami nlecebrai nduit". 
4  Studieso n Collenuccio'lsi fe and worki nclude:A . SAVIOTn, PandolfoC ollenuccio, 
umanistpa esaresed el sec.X  V (1888),r eprintR, ome,1 974;C  . VARESE", PandolfoC ollenuc- 
cio umanista"in,  Storiae  politican ellap rosad el QuattrocentTo,u rin,1 961,p p. 149-286;N . 
TANDAP, andolfoC ollenuccioI:I  drammad ella" saviezza"R, ome,1 988;a nd Dizionariob io- 
graficod egliI taliani2, 7, 1982, s.v. "CollenuccioP, andolfo"p, p. 1-5. 
64
PANDOLFOC OLLENUCCIOS'SP ECCHIOD 'ESOPO 
skillsC, ollenuccisoe rveda s a diplomaat ndc ivico fficiaflo  rn  umer- 
ous Italianc ity-statesth: e Bentivogliaop  pointedh img iudiceto  the 
Disco dell'orsoi n Bologna (1473-1474); he later rose to the position 
of procuratoreg enerale in Pesaro for the Sforza; and in 1490, upon 
the invitation of Lorenzo de' Medici, he served as Podest2 of Flor- 
ence. After a brief employment as Podest2 of Mantua, Collenuccio 
transferred permanently to Ferrara in 1491 with his second wife 
Lauretta. The Ferraresed  uke Ercole I d'Este appointed him consi- 
gliere ducale;h e also acted as the Este ambassadort o Rome and to 
the imperial court. Collenuccio's dedication to the Este led Ercole 
I to nominate him Capitanod i Giustiziai n May of 1500. A versatile 
figure, Collenuccio immersedh  imself in the city's flourishingh uman- 
ist culture and helped shape the direction of scholarship at court. 
Alreadyi n 1487 his vernaculart ranslationo f Anfitrioneb y the Roman 
playwrightP lautus had been performedi n Ferrara.A  mong the works 
he composed while in the employment of the Este are his Pliniana 
defensl'oC, ompendiod e le Istori'ed el Regno di Napoli,R  egolad a piantar 
et conservarm  elaranci,a nd the Commediad i facob e di Ioseph, a sacra 
rappresentazionteh at was performed in Ferrarao n 28 and 31 March 
1504. At Pesaro, by contrast, the humanist's personal and political 
fortunes had been highly unstable. Giovanni Sforza, the illegitimate 
son of Costanzo Sforza,i mprisoned Collenuccio for eighteen months 
beginningi n 1488 mainlyb ecause he had negotiatedw  ith Pope Sixtus 
IV to grant Giovanni control of the duchy under the condition of 
papal jurisdiction. Later, when  Collenuccio  attempted to visit 
family in Pesaro in 1504, he was imprisoned again by Giovanni 
Sforza, and subsequently executed  on 11 June. 
Between 1494 and 1499 Collenuccio composed his Apologi (fa- 
bles). Four of these are in Latin: Agenoria, Misopenes,A  lithia, and 
Bombarda,a nd they were first published collectively in 151 1.5  The 
other two are in the vernacular:F  ilotimo, published in 1517, and 
Specchio d'Esopo, in 1526.i All of the fables bear a dedication to 
5 Collenuccio's Latin fables are reprintedi n P. COLLENUCCOIOpe, rettem  orali:P oesie 
latine e volgari,e d. A. SAVIOTTIB, ari, 1929, with an additionale xaminationo f their genesis 
and publicationh istory.A  ll quotationsf rom the Latina pologia re from this edition. According 
to Saviotti (p. 343), the fable Agenoriaw  as first published independentlyi n 1497; Misopenes 
in 1510, and Alithia in 1495 (or 1500). 
6 The vernacularf ables are also edited, with an examination of their early history, by 
65 
5
GIANCARLOF IORENZA 
Duke Ercole I d'Este. These original texts assimilate conceits not 
only from the fables of Aesop, but also from the Roman comedies 
of Plautus, the satiric dialogues of Lucian, and the Intercenales( Din- 
ner Pieces) of the Renaissancea rchitect and humanist Leon Battista 
Alberti (1404-1472).7T he dialogueS  pecchiod 'Esopoi s distinct among 
Collenuccio'sw  ritings:i t offers an exposition on the ethical value of 
fables for a Renaissancep  rince and his courtiers through six inter- 
locutors who converse with one another in a court setting. The pro- 
tagonists are Ercole (Hercules),E  sopo (Aesop), Plauto (Plautus),L  u- 
ciano (Lucian),B  lacico (the porter), and il Re (the prince), who, ow- 
ing to the text's dedication,c an be read as a figure for Ercole I d'Este. 
With  the  dialogue,  Collenuccio  forms  an  investigative com- 
munity of interlocutorsw  ho discuss moral objectives by assimilating 
fables and other ancient proverbs into their own speech.8 At the 
heart of the work is an emphasis on how the reading and reciting 
of Aesop's fables can help one obtain Virtue and Truth (Virtiua nd 
Verita).T  he specchio( mirror)o f the title is explained in the dialogue 
as a figure of the human soul: "L'anima umana, quando in questa 
mortal spoglia dal dator sommo de le forme si infonde, quasi come 
lucidissimo specchio ne viene atta a rappresentarel e specie e imagini 
di tutte quelle cose che a lei si presentano [...]".9  This dialogue has 
Saviotti (see note 5). All quotations from the Specchio d'Esopo and Filotimo are from 
P. COLLENUCCAIpOo, loghi in volgare,e d. G. MASI, Rome, 1998, which contains useful phil- 
ological notes. I have made some minor adjustmentst o the text for clarity. 
7 Interpretationso f Collenuccio's apologi are by S. ORLANDO"L, 'ideologiau manistica 
negli Apologi di P. Collenuccio", in G. TARUG(Ie d.), Civilta dell'umanesimo,F lorence, 
1972, pp. 225-240; E. MATTIOLI,L uciano e l'umanesimo, Naples, 1980, pp.  113-126; 
S. PITTALUG"AN, ote sul Misopenesd i Pandolfo Collenuccio"R, es publical itterarum7, , 1984, 
pp. 171-180; VARESEo, p. cit., (see note 4), pp. 177-222; and TANDAo, p. cit., (see note 4), 
pp. 49-89. Collenuccio possessed a rare manuscript of Alberti's Intercenales,f or which 
see L. D'AscIA, "Humanistic Culture and Literary Invention in Ferrara at the Time of 
the Dossi", in L. CIAMMITTI-SO. STROW-SS.E TTIS(e ds.), Dosso's Fate: Painting and Court 
Culture in RenaissanceI taly, Los Angeles, 1998, pp. 309-332, esp. p. 309. For a study 
and translation of the Intercenales, see L. B. ALBERTDI,i nner Pieces, trans. D. MARSH, 
Binghamton,1 987. Collenuccioa lso modeled his Specchiod 'Esopoa fter Plutarch'sD inner of 
the Seven Wise Men, in which Aesop appears as an advisor to Croesus, King of Lydia. 
8 D. MARSHT, he QuattrocentoD ialogue:C  lassicalT raditiona nd HumanistI nnovation, 
Cambridge, Mass., 1980, discusses the structure and development of the humanist dia- 
logue. 
9 COLLENUCCI(Oe d. MASI), op. cit. (see note 6), pp. 56-57: "The human soul, when 
clothed in this mortal form given to it by the highest giver of forms, infuses itself like a most 
66
PANDOLFO COLLENUCCIO'SS PECCHIOD  'ESOPO 
been relativelwy ell servedb y interpretationess,p  eciallyth  ose of 
AlfredoS  aviotti,C  laudioV  arese,a nd Nicola Tanda.I  wish to 
emphasizteh e impacto f its messagew ithint he literarya ndv isual 
cultureo f Renaissancceo urts ociety. 
CollenuccioS'sp ecchido' Esopoo pensw  ithH  erculesa,  figureo f 
virtue,g reetingA esopo utsidea  royalc ourt.S addenedA, esope x- 
plainst hath e hads oughtt he prince'sa udienceb, utw  asd  eniede n- 
trancei nto the courtb  ecauset he portersf ailedt o recognizeh is 
"gifts"(a pologia)s w  orthyo fferingfso rt her ulerI. n ordert o express 
how unfairlhy e wast reatedA, esopi nventsa  fableo f a nightingale 
whosem  elodics ingingw asj udgedi nferiorto  the two-tonedc allo f 
a cuckoob y a simple-mindejdac kassH. erculesw, ho is amusedb y 
the wittyp aralleli,s  remindedo f the ancientp roverb( heres poken 
in the vernacular"):C heh a da far l'asinoc on la lira?"( Whath as 
a jackassto   do with a lyre?).1T0h  e mythicahl eroa  greest o escort 
Aesopi ntot hec ourtp, astt heu  nyieldinpgo rtera, ndf urtherre assures 
himt hatt hel earnedp rincew illn  ot failt o recognizteh ev  alueo f his 
fables.H  e encourageAs esop to smilew  hen they encountert he 
ushersa ndc ourto fficialisn  ordert o dissolveth  eirm  asko f superior- 
ity: "Spacciap ur lor col riso, come la Volpe tua la mascarad el 
mimo".1W'  ith this adviceH  erculesi nvokest he Aesopianf able 
"TheF ox beforet he TragicA ctor'sM  ask"w, hichr eadsa s follows: 
A fox, afterl ookingb y chancea t a tragica ctor'ms askr, emarked":O   
whata  majestifca cei s here,b ut it hasn  o brains!". 
Thisi s a dictumf or thoset o whomF ortuneh asg rantedr anka ndr e- 
nown,b ut deniedt hemc ommons ense.'2 
Herculesc ounselsA esopt o learnf romh is owni nvention-s  to 
assumeth  ea  ttitudoe f thec leverf ox andd isdainth  ei gnoranpt orter. 
ThroughouCt ollenucciot'se xt the characterins tegratAe esop'sf a- 
bles and other ancientp roverbsi nto familiarc onversationa nd 
lucid mirrora nd becomess uitablef or representintgh e types of imageso f all thingst hat 
representth emselvesto  it [...]". 
10I bid.,p . 40. As Masin otes,t his proverbw as a favoriteo f Lucian;s ee, for instance, 
his De mercedec onductips otentiumfa miliaribusp,.  25. 
11I bid.,p . 42. 
12 PhaedrAi ugustfia bularumA esopiarumtr, ans.B . E. PERRYL, oeb ClassicaLl ibrary, 
CambridgeM, ass.,1 965, 1.7. 
67
GIANCARLOF IORENZA 
publics peakingT. hed  ialogueth usp rovideas  theorya s practice(o r 
performanceS)u. cha  modela ppealsto   the Rhetori(c1 393a-1394a) 
by Aristotlew, ho definesf ablea s a typeo  f argumenbt y example. 
Aristodset ressetsh e pleasuraen  dp ersuasiveneosfs h earinpg articular 
facts( inventedo r actual)t hata pplyt o generasl ituationsa, ndc ites 
exampleso f Aesop'sf ablesu sedi n judiciaol ratory.'3 
Upong  aininge ntrancea t court,t he characteAr esopc onverses 
with the Greeks atiristL uciana nd the Latinp laywrighPt lautus. 
Aesopf eels at home amongt his courtlye ntourageo f ancientl et- 
teratiW.  henh e meetsL  uciana ndP  lautusf or the firstt ime,A  esop 
remarktso  Herculest hatt hey are delightfuiln structorosf  practi- 
cal reasona nd virtue,s tating:" sono omini d'ognim  ano, dotti, 
acuti,u manif, aceti,p ronti,e legantid, estrie t esperti,c he con tan- 
ta dolcezzad imostronloe  condiziondi e la vitau  manae  insegnano 
costumie  virtu'c, he chi con loro practicap, are a pena che mal 
omo possa essere".'4T hrought he conversationaelx changeo f 
his interlocutorCs, ollenucciore vealsh is distrusot f scholasticp hi- 
losophy( or logic) and inflateda cademicj argon.T  he character 
Luciand  rives this point home when he introducesA  esop to 
the prince,p raisingt he inventoro f fablesa  s a specialb reed of 
"philosopheri"n  the followingm  anner: 
I1n omed i costuio,  re,c hiamanEo sopo[ ...] et e filosofom, an onc ome 
li altric hec ons illogismei l onghen arrazione id ifficilmi ostranao l i ominlia   
via de la virtiuf,a cendoo scuroq uelc he moltoc hiaroe sserd overiae,  non 
facendop eroc on le opereq uelloc he conl a linguain  segnanoM. ah  a tro- 
vatou  nan  ovav iab  revee t espeditap, erl a qualep igliandoa rgumentdoi  
13 ARISTOTLER, hetoric, trans. W. R. ROBERTSN, ew York, 1954, 1394a: "Fables are 
suitable for addresses to popular assemblies;a nd they have one advantage-  they are com- 
parativelye asy to invent, whereas it is hard to find parallelsa mong actual past events. You 
will in fact frame them just as you frame illustrativep arallels:a ll you requirei s the power of 
thinking out your analogy, a power developed by intellectual training". 
14 COLLENUCCIO (ed. MAsI)o, p. cit., (see note 6), p. 49: "theya re men capableo f 
everything, cultivated, acute, humble, witty, prepared, elegant, skilled, and expert, who 
with such sweetness reveal the conditions of human existence and teach proper customs 
and virtues that, for those who train with them, it barely seems possible to be a bad 
man". This passage is discussed by K. SIDWELL, "'Qui miscuit utile dulci': La fortuna delle 
opere di Luciano nella societa del Quattrocento Italiano",i n Homo sapiens,h omo humanus: 
Letteratura,a rte e scienza nella seconda meta del Quattrocento,F lorence, 1990, vol. 2, pp. 
449-459, esp. p. 453. 
68
PANDOLFO COLLENUCCIO'SS PECCHIOD  'ESOPO 
cose umilie  naturalic, on dolci esemplid imostraq uelloc he a 1i ominis ia 
utile. 
'5 
Lucian's words demonstrate that Renaissanceh  umanists valued 
Aesop's fables for their brevitas:t he abilityt o compress wisdom and 
experiencea nd apply it to practicalq uestions.C  ollenuccioc hampions 
the fables because they relocate virtuous activityw  ithin the intimate 
network of social bonds and the habits of daily life. As a humanist 
dialogue, the Specchio d'Esopo provides the reader seeking ethical 
guidance with exemplary deeds and model courtly behavior rather 
than with arcane philosophical doctrine. In addition, the above 
passage refers to Horace's dictum "omne tulit punctum qui miscuit 
utile dulci" (He has won every vote who has blended profit with 
pleasure)  from the Ars poetica  (343).16  The Specchio d'Esopo 
testifies to the literaryp  restige of fables and demonstratesh  ow they 
facilitate practical experience and quotidian reasoning. 
When Collenuccio praises the relativem  erits of Aesop's fables in 
his Specchiod 'Esopo, he reveals the vernacular'si mportance for the 
experience of classicall iteraturea t the Este court. To be sure, trans- 
lating the ancient fables from Greek into Latin constituted an en- 
riching philological activity for such early Renaissance humanists 
as Gregorio Correr, Ermolao Barbaro, Lorenzo Valla, Ognibene 
da Lonigo, and most notably Guarino da Verona, who moved to 
Ferrarai n 1429 where he educated the Este and served as a profes- 
sor at the universityu ntil his death in 1460.17I n 1437 Leon Battista 
15 COLLENUCC(eIdO.  MASI),o p. cit. (see note 6), pp. 51-52: "Dear Prince, this is the 
man they call Aesop [...] and he is a philosopher, but not like the others, who with their 
syllogismsa nd long and difficult discourses try to show the path to virtue, making obscure 
that which should be clear, and being unable to demonstratet he practicalityo f that which 
they teach. Instead, he has found a new way, brief and expedient, through which, by un- 
folding the argument of humble and natural things, he shows with sweet examples that 
which is useful to men". 
16 HORACEA,r s Poetica, trans. H. R. FAIRCLOUGLHoe, b ClassicalL  ibrary,C  ambridge, 
Mass., 1966, p. 343. 
17 On the importance of Aesop's fables for Renaissance humanists in Italy and be- 
yond, I have consulted S. I. CAMPOREALLoEr,e nzo Valla: umanesimoe  teologia, Florence, 
1972, esp. p. 174; C. FINCH, "The RenaissanceA  daptation of Aesop's Fables by Gregorius 
Corrarius",C lassicalB ulletin, 49, 1973, pp. 44-48; J. BERRIGA"NT, he LibellusF abellarumo f 
Gregorio Correr",M  anuscripta1, 9, 1975, pp. 131-138; R. GALLIT, he FirstH  umanist Trans- 
lations of Aesop, Ph.D. diss., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign,1 978; M. FuMA- 
69
GIANCARLOF IORENZA 
Albertci omposedo neh  undredL atinf ablesi n imitationof  Aesopi n 
whichh e strovef or richnesos f responseth  roughli nguisticb revity. 
Albertid  edicatedh is fables to the influentialF erraresec anon 
FrancescMo arescalcWo.i thh isd  edicatiohne,  soughta, nds ubsequently 
achievedd,o sep  ersonatli esw  itht he Estec ourt.'A8 lberti'osw  nf ables 
informedt he writingso f Celio Calcagnin(i1 479-1541)t,h  e Este 
courth istoriana ndc hairo f the facultyo f rhetorica t the University 
of FerraraC. alcagninhii mselfc omposedo ne hundredL atinf ables 
cherishedfo r theiri ronicl ook at humane xistence.'Y9 et it is im- 
portantt o note that by the last quartero f the fifteenthc entury, 
whichs awt hea  dvenot f printinga,  muchb roadear udienc-e  ranging 
fromp rincetso  courtierssc, hoolchildrteon h umanistlsa, yt o religious 
peoples-  encounteretdh e fablesp rimariliyn  the vernaculanro, t in 
theo  riginaGl reeko r Latin.2T0h ee arliesat ndm  ostp opulavr ernacu- 
lart ranslatiopnr intedin  Italyw  ast he editionp ublishedb y Giovanni 
andA  lbertoA lvisei n Veronao n 26 June1 479:A esopums oralisatus, 
latinee t italice.2T' he variousin  ventorieosf  the Estel ibraryr ecord 
ROLI, "Les 'Fables'e t la traditionh umaniste de l'apologue esopique", in M. FUMAROLI (ed.), 
La Fontaine: 'Fables',P aris, 1985, pp. 73 -92; E. FAHY-BM. CTIGUE, The MediciA  esop, New 
York, 1989; and A. PATTERSON, Fables of Power: Aesopian Writing and Political History, 
Durham-London, 1991. 
18  P. TESTI MASSETANI, "Ricerche sugli Apologi di Leon Battista Alberti", Rinasci- 
mento, 12, 1972, pp. 79-133. In his dedication, Alberti begged Marescalcot o have patience 
if the fables seem obscure, for obscurity often accompanies condensed elocution (brevitas). 
It is precisely this brevity that Alberti strove to achieve and painstakinglyr esearched;i n this 
format he guaranteest hat the fables can be read repeatedly with increased attention, pro- 
viding much pleasure and revealingi nsight through their application.F  or Alberti's quest to 
gain favor with the Este through his literaryp ractice, see A. GRAFTONLe, on BattistaA  lberti: 
Master Builder of the Italian Renaissance,N  ew York, 2000, pp. 189-224. 
19 C. CALCAGNINI, Apologi caeliani, in Opera aliquot, Basel, 1544, pp. 625-640. A 
study of Calcagnini's fables in their literary context is offered by S. PRANDI, "Celio 
Calcagnini, Ortensio Lando e la prosa morale degli apologhi", Schede umanistiche, 
1, 1994, pp. 83-93. 
20  V. BRANCA (ed.), in Esopo toscanod eifrati e mercantit recenteschiV, enice, 1989, dis- 
cusses how merchanta nd religious communitiesi n fourteenth-centuryT uscany adapted the 
fables of Aesop and accompanyingm  orals to suit their respective professions. 
21  This edition, which is illustratedw  ith woodcuts, contains the Latin verse translation 
of the Greek fables transcribedb y GualtheriusA  nglicus (12th century?), accompanied by a 
vernacular translation in double sonnet (sonetto materiale and sonetto morale) by Accio 
Zucco of Sommacampagna. Studies on this famous edition include: G. MARDERSTEIG, 
Liberale ritrovaton ell'Esopo Veronesed el 1479, Verona, 1973; and L. DONATI", Osserva- 
zioni sull'Esopo di Verona, 26 June 1479", GutenbergJ ahrbuch,1 976, pp. 138-146. 
70
PANDOLFOC OLLENUCCIOS'SP ECCHIOD 'ESOPO 
that it housedb  oth a Latina nd a vernaculaerd  itiono f Aesop's 
fables.2W2 hati s more,t he impressivsec opeo f classicatle xtst rans- 
latedi nto the vernaculaart  Ferrarain, cludingth e workso f Lucian 
andP  lautust,e stifiesto   the newlye merginlgi terarfyo rmsa ndc on- 
ventionisn  whicht het rutho f ancienet xperiencbee comesa bsorbed 
and assimilateidn to a moderna nd sharedla  nguageC. ollenuccio's 
Specchido' Esopios  justo nee xampleo f thes ophisticatiothne v ernac- 
ularc oulda chievei,l lustratinwgh  atC  arloD ionisottci onsideretdh e 
vernacular"'sa ristocratisct"a tusa s a courtlyla nguage.T23h atC  olle- 
nuccioc hoosest hel anguagoef  thev  ernaculatro  discussth  e relative 
meritso f Aesop'sf ablesu pholdst heirw  ide culturavl aluea s both 
communaaln  dc ourtlyp ossession. 
The dialogueS pecchido 'Esopois  an essentiaRl enaissanctee xt 
that demonstratetsh e uses of Aesop'sf ablesa s agentso f moral 
and culturael xchangeI. n the dialoguet he princea sksf or whom 
the "fruits"o f Aesop'sl aborsm  ightb e usefula nd advantageous. 
Aesope xplaintsh att hep  rincec anu set hemf orh  isp  leasurbee cause, 
beingo f nobleb irthh, e alreadpyo  ssesselse arningw, hereahs isc ourt- 
iersn eedt hemi n ordert o "cleara waya ndb urnishth eirm  irrorss"o  
thatt heym  ays ee reflectedin  themt he "VV  ": 
Ma 1i toi familiarei  ministri,c he tantae sperienzae  dono dal ciel non 
hanno,a d altrou saren on li devenon e possono,c he a purgaree  a brunire 
1il oro specchi,l i qualin ettie  brunitic he siano,p erspicuamentvee deranno 
quellid ui 'V V', 1iq  ualit u ora possiedi:e  allorae ssendo,c ome tu ora, sa- 
nati, ne potranno con volutta gustare e I'acquistatas anita mantenere.24 
22  G. BERTONIL, a biblioteca estense e la colturaf erraresea i tempi del Duca Ercole I 
(1471-1505), Turin, 1903, p. 221, no. 103 [1467]: "Exopus fabulosus non eo modo quo 
sunt illi quibus utimur sed diverso versibus exametius";p . 241, no. 192 [1495]: "Fabule 
de Jsoppo in vulgare coperto de brasilo stampato". For an additional study of the Este li- 
brary,s ee A. QUONDAM", Le biblioteche della corte estense", in A. QUONDAM( ed.), II libro 
a corte, Rome, 1994, pp. 7-38 
23  C. DIONISOTTIG, eografiae  storia della letteraturai taliana, Turin, 1967, pp. 125- 
178. Dennis Looney demonstratesh ow the activityo f translatingc lassicalt exts into the ver- 
nacular had a direct impact on the writings of such Ferrarese authors as Matteo Maria 
Boiardo and Ludovico Ariosto; see D. LOONEY,C  ompromisingt he Classics:R omanceE  pic 
Narrativei n the Italian Renaissance,D  etroit, 1996. 
24  COLLENUCCI(Oed . MAsI),o p. cit. (see note 6), pp. 54-55: "However, your courtiers 
and ministers,w  ho do not possess such experience and heavenlyg ifts, must use [my fables] 
for no other reason than to purge and burnish their mirrors,i n which, no matter how clear 
71
GIANCARLOF IORENZA 
The imagined "V V" reflected in the mirror of the soul is Colle- 
nuccio's own remarkable invention. These initials appear in bold 
majusculesi n the early manuscripts,a s in the one dedicated and de- 
livered to the Medici Pope Leo X in 1513 by Pandolfo's son Teo- 
doro Collenuccio (Figs. 1 and 2).25 This manuscript testifies to the 
circulationo f the dialoguew  ithin the papal states,a  point to which we 
shall return below. At this stage in the narrative,t he prince accepts 
the fables with a good heart, praising their universalitya nd efficacy. 
It is clear that Collenuccio is playing upon the literaryg enre of the 
speculump rincipis( the mirror of the prince), texts written as guides 
to the education of a prince that combine ethics and political in- 
struction. The metaphor of the mirror as reflection of divine truth 
also has scriptural authority in the Book of Wisdom (7.26): "For 
[Wisdom] is [...]  an unspotted mirror of the working of God, and 
an image of his goodness".26W  hen prompted by Lucian and Plautus 
to clarifyt he meaning of Aesop's words, the prince states that fables 
clear away vice more easily and more enjoyably than scholastic 
studies, like medicine sweetened with fruit: 
II che vedendoi l nostroE  sopo, una facile,d olce e naturalv ia, si come 
l'asprezzad e la medicinac on la dolcezzad el melle si tempra,p ar che tro- 
vato abbiad i questis uavissimsio i fruttiA  pologi:c he con umilem  odo veri 
esemplia d esser gustatii nvitano,e  poi teneramentein duconoc hi lor gu- 
stanoa  purgaree  polireI i lor specchie  al primos uo splendorer idurlia; ccio 
che purificatqi uellil e vere imaginir eferendo,q uelled  ue antiquissimseo - 
reileV  irtue'  Verita,[ le] quaile sso per bid ui 'V V' designarv oile,n  e b'anima 
si prestino e cosi al suo principio felicemente la rendino.27 
and glistening, perspicuouslyt hey can see the two "V V", which you alreadyp ossess. And 
hence being healed, as you are now, they will be able to enjoy them with great delight and 
maintain their improved moral health". 
25  J have consulted the manuscript now housed in the Biblioteca Palatina of Parma 
(MS. Palatino 256). Another manuscript of the dialogue exists in the Vatican Library (Va- 
ticano-Urbinate1 228). On these two manuscripts,s ee COLLENUCCI(Oed . SAVIOTTI)o, p. cit. 
(see note 5), pp. 358-359. 
26  Translationf rom The Apocryphaa nd Pseudepigraphao f the Old Testament,e d. R. 
H. CHARLES, Oxford, 1983, vol. 1, p. 547 (The Book of Wisdom, 7.26). 
27  COLLENUCCI(Oed . MAsI), op. cit. (see note 6), p. 58: "Therefore,o ur Aesop, seeing 
a simple, sweet, and natural path, just as the bitterness of medicine is tempered by the 
sweetness of fruit, seems to have found this in his most elegant fruitful fables, which 
through humble ways and truthful examples invite a tasting, and then gently induce those 
who taste them to purge and polish their mirrorsa nd return them to their former splendor. 
72
Description:AND THE PORTRAIT OF THE COURTIER. GIANCARLO FIORENZA t he ancient fables of Aesop figure prominently in Giovanni. Boccaccio's defense