Orlando innamorato
Quick Summary
Orlando innamorato is an epic poem by Matteo Maria Boiardo, written around 1476 and published in two parts in 1483. It is notable for being the first work to blend elements of both Arthurian and Carolingian romance traditions, revitalizing the chivalric epic genre.1
The poem tells the story of Orlando (Roland), a knight of Charlemagne, who falls in love with the beautiful princess Angelica. This unrequited love drives much of the narrative, leading Orlando to madness in later interpretations. Boiardo's work was intended to be a three-part epic, but he died before completing the third part. Ludovico Ariosto later conceived his famous poem, Orlando furioso, as a sequel to Boiardo's work. While Orlando innamorato did not achieve widespread popularity in its time due to its language and complex structure, it significantly influenced later epic poetry.123
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Ludovico Ariosto…original continuation of Boiardo’s poem Orlando innamorato. Its hero is Orlando, whose name is the Italian form of Roland. Orlando furioso consists of a number of episodes derived from the epics, romances, and heroic poetry of the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. The poem, however, achieves homogeneity by the author’s…
Read More…original continuation of Boiardo’s poem Orlando innamorato. Its hero is Orlando, whose name is the Italian form of Roland. Orlando furioso consists of a number of episodes derived from the epics, romances, and heroic poetry of the Middle Ages and Early Renaissance. The poem, however, achieves homogeneity by the author’s…
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history of EuropeArts and letters…Matteo Boiardo, author of the Orlando innamorato, an epic of Roland. A blending of the Arthurian and Carolingian epic traditions (see La Chanson de Roland), Boiardo’s Orlando inspired Ludovico Ariosto to take up the same themes. The result was the finest of all Italian epics, Orlando furioso. The ability of…
Read More…Matteo Boiardo, author of the Orlando innamorato, an epic of Roland. A blending of the Arthurian and Carolingian epic traditions (see La Chanson de Roland), Boiardo’s Orlando inspired Ludovico Ariosto to take up the same themes. The result was the finest of all Italian epics, Orlando furioso. The ability of…
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…and romantic epics, Matteo Boiardo’s Orlando innamorato (1483) and Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (1516), are based on this fusion. The serious themes of the Holy Grail and death of Arthur left no mark in Italy. The romantic idealism of Boiardo and Ariosto exploits instead the worldly adventures and the love…
Read More…and romantic epics, Matteo Boiardo’s Orlando innamorato (1483) and Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso (1516), are based on this fusion. The serious themes of the Holy Grail and death of Arthur left no mark in Italy. The romantic idealism of Boiardo and Ariosto exploits instead the worldly adventures and the love…
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