manutius became a citizen of the town carpi in march 1480. in 1482 he went to live in mirandola with his old friend and fellow student, giovanni pico, while staying away from the venetian army. he lived there for two years, learning about greek literature. before pico moved to florence, he made manutius the teacher to his sister's sons, alberto and leonello pio, who were young royal sons of the town of carpi. in carpi, manutius grew close with his student, alberto pio. at the end of the 1480s manutius created two works addressed to his two students and their mother, caterina pico. both works were printed by baptista de tortis in venice — "musarum panagyris" with its "epistola catherinae piae", march/may 1487 – march 1491 and the "paraenesis", 1490. this would serve as manutius's start in publishing.