SANTINI, Pietr Antonio. [with] MARINELLI, Lucrezia. [and] LEONI, Ambrogio.

An interesting poetic sammelband, with uncommon works. The most interesting and scarcest is the second a versified life of St Francis by the Venetian Lucrezia Marinella (or Marinelli, 1571-1653) daughter of Giovanni Marinelli, a physician who wrote popular works on women s illnesses. She never married, and lived a secluded life devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and literature, whilst encouraging other talented female writers. A key theme of her works was the defence of women, although she also wrote a couple of religious poems. Her Vita is based on Tommaso da Celano s two biographies of St Francis. Marinelli initially portrays St Francis life before his conversion his love of material things, [...] his lust for beautiful women. She then describes St Francis conversion [...] and his travels to the mountains and to Rome, where he often pauses to meditate and ward off worldly temptations. [...] The poem replays Christ s crucifixion in a dream sequence, after which St Francis receives the stigmata, the physical proof of his perfect imitation of Christ. The poem closes with St Francis death and his soul s ascent towards Heaven (Price, ed., p.65). La Taide Convertita , here in its first edition, was written by Ambrogio Leoni, member of the Crosier (or Hospitaller) order, of whom little is known. It is a religious play on the conversion of St Thais, not included in the Roman martyrology but found among the Eastern saints. Originally a prostitute, St Thais converts to Christianity, then spending three years in the mortification of her body to expiate her past. Unlike in the Golden Legend , the saint is no longer the isolated protagonist of a heroic Christian story, but the center of a network of human relationships that includes several characters : the hermit monk, two servants, two suitors, personifications of virtues and vices, and even an angel, Lucifer, and demons (Leone, p.53). The first work is a poetic narration of the life of Christ. An interesting collection.