author
Francesco Colonna
d. 1527
Best known as the likely author of the mysterious Renaissance dream book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, this Venetian Dominican left behind one of the strangest and most beautiful works of early printed literature. The book’s lush imagery, learned references, and puzzle-like authorship have kept readers curious for centuries.
1 Audiobook
Hypnerotomachia: The Strife of Loue in a Dreame
by Francesco Colonna
About the author
A Venetian Dominican priest and monk, Francesco Colonna is generally identified as the author of Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, first printed in Venice by Aldus Manutius in 1499. The attribution is famous partly because it rests on an acrostic hidden in the text, which points to his name.
The book itself is an unusual mix of dream narrative, romance, architecture, antiquarian learning, and elaborate language drawn from Italian, Latin, and Greek. Its rich woodcuts and ornate style helped make it one of the most admired books of the Renaissance, even as its meaning and authorship have remained subjects of debate.
Because so little about his life is firmly documented, Colonna is remembered less for a detailed personal story than for the singular work associated with him. That mystery is part of his appeal: he stands at the edge of literature, art, and book history, attached to a work that still feels strange and captivating today.