Giovanni Rucellai

Italian author

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July 13, 2026

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Giovanni Rucellai was an Italian author known for his didactic poetry during the Renaissance. He is recognized for his work Le api (1539), which translates to "The Bees." In this poem, Rucellai adapted the fourth book of the Roman poet Virgil's Georgics. This contribution places him within the tradition of didactic poetry that continued from humanist writers during that era.1

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blank verse
…poem Le api (1539) by Giovanni Rucellai. Rucellai was the first to use the term versi sciolti, which became translated into English as “blank verse.” It soon became the standard metre of Italian Renaissance drama, used in such major works as the comedies of Ludovico Ariosto, L’Aminta of Torquato Tasso,…
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…poem Le api (1539) by Giovanni Rucellai. Rucellai was the first to use the term versi sciolti, which became translated into English as “blank verse.” It soon became the standard metre of Italian Renaissance drama, used in such major works as the comedies of Ludovico Ariosto, L’Aminta of Torquato Tasso,…
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Italian literature
Poetry
…during this period, chiefly by Giovanni Rucellai, who recast in Le api (1539; “The Bees”) the fourth book of the Roman poet Virgil’s Georgics, and by Luigi Alamanni, in six books on agriculture and rustic life called La coltivazione (1546).
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…during this period, chiefly by Giovanni Rucellai, who recast in Le api (1539; “The Bees”) the fourth book of the Roman poet Virgil’s Georgics, and by Luigi Alamanni, in six books on agriculture and rustic life called La coltivazione (1546).
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