it it en en en en en en en en en en it it en en en en en la la en en en en en it en en en en en la la la la la en pt it ca la la de fr pt en en en en en en en en en en de en en en en it it it it it en nl en en nl en en en en it en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en en
1486–1552. From Como, medical doctor, humanist historian and biographer.
Giovio studied medicine in Padua before rising to prominence in the Rome of Leo X. After teaching moral and natural philosophy at the University of Rome, in 1517 he became personal physician to Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, in whose service he remained after the cardinal's elevation as Pope Clement VII in 1523. Following Clement's death (1534), Giovio became a retainer of Pope Paul III, then of the pope's nephew, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, and finally of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in Florence. A prolific author, he composed elogia (capsule biographies) of outstanding men of letters and of arms, dialogues, biographies of leading dignitaries, and histories.
The De viris et foeminis aetate nostra florentibus, from which the first selection is taken, comprises three dialogues set on the island of Ischia in the autumn of 1527. Giovio composed most of it while a guest of Vittoria Colonna in 1527–1528, but he never finished the work to his satisfaction, and it remained unpublished until 1984. Only a single rough-draft manuscript of each dialogue has survived. The text below follows the orthography of the 2013 edition with but one minor exception. The translation is lightly revised.
The Elogia veris clarorum virorum imaginibus apposita, the source of the second passage, was first published under Giovio's supervision in 1546. It consists of the brief biographies that he had mounted below portraits of illustrious literati in his villa on Lake Como. The orthography of the text below follows that of the editio princeps, excepting minor changes in punctuation and capitalization. The translation is newly prepared for the present entry.
Giovio does not indicate the sources for his descriptions of Pomponio, but he presumably gathered the various facts and anecdotes he relates from Giovanni Pontano and other humanists who knew Pomponio, including, perhaps, Aulo Giano Parrasio, with whom Giovio had studied in Milan.
1) Paolo Giovio, De viris et foeminis aetate nostra florentibus (Notable Men and Women of Our Time).
Mss.: Como, Seminario Vescovile, Centro Studi "Nicolò Rusca," Fondo Aliati, cassetta 28 (Dialogues One and Two)
Como, Biblioteca Civica, Fondo Giovio, 1.6.16 (Dialogue Three)
Ed.: Giovio (ed.) 1956– , 9: 147–321, at 250–51. [NB: unreliable ed.]
Giovio (ed.) 2011, 1: 250–53.
Giovio (ed.) 2013, 282–85.
Latin and English extracts taken from Giovio (ed.) 2013, 282–85.
Unde profecto id verum et constantissimum esse videtur quod Pomponius Laetus, qui primus Romae ab ignobili saeculo Latinas litteras scitissime docuit, dicere solebat: humanorum scilicet studiorum decus et dignitatem tribus omnino facultatibus atque praesidiis sustentari — suco videlicet uberiore, validis ac explicatis nervis et vivido suavique colore — ut in humani corporis temperato et bene sano habitu concurrere videmus. Eleganter enim ille copiosam eruditionem sucum appellabat, robustum atque volubilem stilum nervos ipsos, laetum vero colorem illam de qua dicimus politam ac admirabilem actionem, quae duas res inter se coniugatas necessario comprehendit, vocem et gestum cum verbis atque sententiis ad commovendos animos congruentes. In quibus tantam vim vel unius Demosthenis gravi testimonio inesse constat ut ipse tantus orator illam contra naturae vitium, calculis ore susceptis, duxerit temperandam; hunc autem Cicero noster, comoedo Roscio docente, diligenter percipere non erubuerit.
Sed trium illarum rerum Pomponius, vir arguto sapientique iudicio, primam sibi vindicasse transpadanos, in secunda Neapolitanos eminere, tertiam vero, quae esset omnium iucundissima, nullibi magis quam in Romanis labris sessitare atque florere testabatur, ita ut ea singulari facetaque sententia summae laudis homines Hermolaum et Pontanum, tum maxime florentes persalse nec obscure perstringeret, quando Hermolaus in translato a se Themistio durior et, ut ita dicam, strigosior esse videretur, et Pontanus ad omne genus eloquentiae natus, ab agresti ac inepto ore vix sua amicis recitare et Latine loqui cum externis legatis auderet. Neque tamen propterea Pomponius se ipsum qui optime pronuntiaret Romae principem statuebat, pudore adductus propter haesitantiam linguae qua ridicule admodum in vernaculis sermonibus per totum vitae spatium irrita spe remedii laboravit, quamquam (quod valde mirandum est), cum pro suggestu intenta voce et pleno oris hiatu Latine esset orandum, discusso repente omni linguae vitio et tota ea deformi titubatione depulsa velut alieno ore et quidem facundissimo loqueretur.
Thus what Pomponio Leto, the first after a shameful expanse of time to teach Latin letters in Rome with great skill, always used to say appears to be perfectly true: that the glory and dignity of humane studies relies entirely upon three powers and protections, namely, an abundance of vital juice, sinews that are strong but supple, and a vivid, pleasant complexion — things we can see coexist in the physical constitution of a regulated and sound human body. It was Pomponio's clever idea to use the term 'succulent' for extensive learning, and to call a muscular but flexible style the 'sinews,' and that polished and respectable delivery of which we speak a 'joyful complexion.' This last-named inevitably embraces a combination of two things, voice and gesture, which act in harmony with words and content to make an impression upon the minds of the listeners. The case of Demosthenes alone offers enough testimony to the power of voice and gesture, so much so that even an orator of his greatness thought he had to temper his delivery by placing pebbles in his mouth to counter his defect of nature. And our own Cicero, as instructed by the comic actor Roscius, was not ashamed to follow Demosthenes' example scrupulously.
But Pomponio, a man of shrewd and wise judgment, declared that of these three things, those living north of the Po had claimed the first for themselves; the Neapolitans were prominent in the second; and the third, which gave the most delight of all, resided and prospered nowhere more than on the lips of the Romans. With this one clever observation, he very wittily and openly slighted the men of highest honor who were then in their prime, Ermolao and Pontano — since he thought that Ermolao, in his translation of Themistius, was rather wooden and what I might call dry, while Pontano, naturally suited for every genre of eloquence, scarcely dared recite his own works to friends or to speak Latin with foreign ambassadors because of his unsophisticated and awkward manner of speaking. But Pomponio didn't on that account judge that he himself had the best manner of delivery in Rome, for he was ashamed of a stammer which in everyday conversations in the vernacular afflicted him for his entire life, prompting laughter, and which he tried to cure without hope of remedy. And yet — what is quite wonderful — when he had to speak in Latin before an assemblage, projecting his voice and fully opening his mouth, then every defect of the tongue was suddenly dispelled and all that inelegant stumbling driven away; he spoke as if with another man's mouth, and a very eloquent one at that.
2) Paolo Giovio, Elogia virorum illustrium (Character Sketches of Illustrious Men)
Ed.: Giovio 1546, 26r–v.
Giovio (ed.) 1935, 70–71.
Giovio (ed.) 1956– , 8: 71–72. [NB: unreliable ed.]
Giovio (ed.) 2006, 122–24.
Latin extract taken from Giovio 1546, 26r–v:
Iulium Pomponium Laetum Sanseverina illustri familia in Picentinis natum ferunt, adoque insigni cura educatum ut ex adultera matre alioqui pudica, illudente ei Salernitano Principe, genitus putaretur. Sed vigente demum bello et labante fortuna principalis domus, animum ad literarum studia convertit, tanta antiqui moris aemulatione et naturae temperantia optimas literas complexus, ut Romae inter praeclara eius saecul  ingenia conspicuus monstraretur. Nam Vallae praeceptoris aequata eruditionis opinione locum exceperat.
Sed eum mox Pauli Secundi iniuria percelebrem fecit, quum literatos quosdam, et in his Platinam atque Callimachum, tanquam impios atque maleficos tormentis excruciasset. Nam e Venetiis Romam pertractus ad dicendam causam, perpetua vitae innocentia tutus nihil terreri potuit, ut integro constantique animo indigna fateretur. Veterum enim ingeniorum illustria nomina sibi ipsis indiderant, quum in coetu sodalium laureati Musas colerent. Ea nominum novitate pontifex, elegantiae literarum imperitus suspiciosusque, vehementer offendebatur, quasi id esset occulta coniurantium tessera ad obeundum insigne facinus.
Xysto demum Innocentioque faventibus in gymnasio docuit incredibili nominis authoritate auditorumque frequentia adeo ut ante auroram profitentem romana iuventus a media statim nocte praeoccupandis subselliis praeveniret. Descendebat e Quirinali saepe solus, Diogenis more praeferens laternam, quum opes contemneret, et iucunda frugalitate venerabilis haberetur. Simplici nanque et pene subagresti convictu usque adeo gaudebat ut quum frequenti semper limine coleretur, improvisi nobiles convivae, non sufficiente eius puero, per iocum admoniti coquinae manus admoverent. Unde perurbani sales multaeque facetiae sererentur.
Scripsit grammaticae compendium adultis pueris utile, et graviore demum stylo seriatim romanos caesares gratissimoque libello in antiquae Urbis ruinis vera loca atque vocabula demonstravit. Sed in suggestu summam laudem promeruit, quod eo magis mirum videtur, quum in familiari sermone haesitante lingua balbutire esset solitus, nec orantem demum aut clara voce lectitantem ulla omnino oris titubantia deformaret.
Septuagenarius excessit e vita, quum gelidissimo vini potu ventriculi calorem oppressisset. Elatus est auditorum insignium piis humeris, honestante funus familia purpurata Alexandri Pontificis et laudante Marso oratore. Quum variis autem elegiis tumulus ornaretur, epigramma Pontani, consensu publico, locum obtinuit.
Pomponi, tibi pro tumulo sit laurea sylva;
ossa maris rores myrteaque umbra tegant,
teque tegant artusque tuos violaeque rosaeque;
ver habeat, zephyros spiret et ipse cinis.
Stillet et ipse cinis quas et Parnasus et antra
Thespia et ipsa suas Ascra ministrat aquas.
Giulio Pomponio Leto is said to have been born in the Picentines of the distinguished house of Sanseverino, and to have been brought up with such excellent care that he was thought the son of the prince of Salerno by an adulterous mother whose only lapse from virtue was her seduction by that nobleman. But since this was a time of war and the fortunes of the prince's house were uncertain, he turned his mind to literary study, embracing fine literature with such emulation of the ancient manner and such natural discretion that at Rome he was noted as standing out among the foremost minds of that era. In fact, he had taken up the post of his teacher, Valla, doing so with a learnedness that was judged equivalent.
But soon he was made a celebrity by the injustice of Paul II, who had afflicted with torture certain scholars, including Platina and Callimachus, on the grounds that they were irreligious and criminal. When Pomponio was dragged back from Venice to Rome to plead his case, he was secure in the consistent innocence of his life and could not be frightened into confessing things unworthy of an irreproachable and steadfast soul. When these scholars, laurel-wreathed, had gathered in the company of their fellows to pay court to the Muses, they had bestowed upon themselves the names of great intellects of old. The pontiff, who was ignorant and suspicious of the choicest literature, was greatly offended by this strageness of names, as though it were a secret password among men conspiring to undertake an extraordinary crime.
Supported, at last, by Sixtus and Innocent, he taught at the university, where his name was so incredibly authoritative and his audience so numerous that, inasmuch as he began to lecture before dawn, the young men of Rome would come in advance as early as midnight to secure their seats. Often he came down from the Quirinal alone, holding a lantern before him like Diogenes because he despised wealth; and he was held in veneration for his pleasing thriftiness. He enjoyed dining in a manner so simple and almost crude that, since his threshold was always crowded with devotees and his servant had too much to do, distinguished people who unexpectedly came to dinner were reproved jokingly and would lend their hands to the cooking. Out of this came very cultured witticisms, and many pleasantries were exchanged.
He wrote a compendium of grammar, useful for older boys; and then, in a more serious style, a chronology of the Roman emperors; and in a most delightful little book he attached the authentic placenames to specific sites in the ruins of the ancient City. But on the platform he won the greatest acclaim, which seems all the more marvelous given that in private conversation he had been accustomed to stutter with a stammering tongue; and yet, no stumbling of speech disfigured him at all when he was delivering an oration or reciting aloud.
In his seventies he departed from life as a result of having overpowered the heat of his stomach with an icy draught of wine. He was carried to his rest on the devoted shoulders of his outstanding pupils, and his funeral was graced by the cardinals of Pope Alexander's court and by a eulogy from the orator Marso. While his tomb was adorned with various elegies, by popular agreement an epigram of Pontano held pride of place:
Pomponio, may a laurel grove serve as your tomb;
may rosemary and the shade of myrtle cover your bones,
and may violets and roses cloak you and your limbs;
May your very ashes enjoy springtime and inhale zephyrs.
May your very ashes drip with such waters as flow from Parnassus
and the Thespian caves and those that Ascra itself supplies.
Giovio 1546 (editio princeps of the work usually known as Elogia virorum illustrium; prepared under Giovio's supervision)
Giovio (ed.) 1956– , Opera, 9 vols. to date (Rome: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1956– ), vol. 8 (1972) Elogia virorum illustrium, ed. Renzo Meregazzi, vol. 9 (1984) Dialogi et descriptiones, ed. Ernesto Travi and Mariagrazia Penco.
Zimmermann 2001, Gouwens 2013.
This entry can be cited as follows:
Kenneth Gouwens, "Paolo Giovio," Repertorium Pomponianum, URL: www.repertoriumpomponianum.it/pomponiani/giovio_paolo.htm,