Phd in CLASSICAL AND MODERN ITALIAN STUDIES

Thesis title: Per un approfondimento sulla scena culturale senese tra XVI e XVII secolo: la produzione letteraria di Bellisario Bulgarini

This thesis aims to offer an in-depth study of Bellisario Bulgarini (1540–1620), a key figure on the Sienese cultural scene between the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. A prominent personality within Siena’s intellectual milieu in the late XVIth century, Bulgarini is known today mainly for his treatises connected to the debate on the Commedia, which arose after the publication of Ridolfo Castravilla’s Discorso. However, his extensive literary production, as well as his direct involvement in promoting culture within his city, have remained largely overlooked. This study econstructs Bulgarini’s poetic corpus and offers an analysis of it, situating the writer’s literary activity within the complex cultural landscape of Siena between the XVIth and XVIIth centuries. Bulgarini actively contributed to the revival of Sienese culture even during the years of stagnation following the Medicean restoration, dedicating himself to promoting initiatives and projects aimed at revitalizing the city’s cultural prestige. The poetic analysis has been complemented by a study of part of Bulgarini’s extensive correspondence, which provides a more nuanced picture of the environment in which he operated. To further investigate Bulgarini’s literary interests of a theoretical and critical nature—interests that extended beyond the polemic concerning Dante—two annotated books from his library have also been examined: Scipione Gentili’s Annotationi and Paolo Beni’s Comparatione. These two volumes attest to Bulgarini’s keen engagement with the debate around Tasso's Gerusalemme Liberata, an interest nurtured over the years through careful reading of the treatises on the Liberata and through his correspondence with fellow scholars.