author
Pietro Aretino
1492–1556
A fearless Renaissance satirist with a gift for scandal and sharp observation, this Italian writer turned letters, dialogues, and plays into weapons against the powerful. His work helped make him one of the most talked-about literary figures of 16th-century Europe.
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About the author
Born in Arezzo in 1492 and later active in cities including Rome and Venice, Pietro Aretino became famous for writing that was bold, witty, and often deliberately provocative. He built a remarkable public reputation in his own lifetime, using poems, comedies, dialogues, and especially letters to comment on the people and politics around him.
He was celebrated across Europe for his biting attacks on the powerful and for the force of his personality as much as for any single book. His published letters are especially important because they open a vivid window onto Italian Renaissance life, while works such as the Ragionamenti show his taste for satire, frank speech, and social criticism.
Aretino died in Venice in 1556, but his reputation never settled into just one category. He has been remembered variously as a major man of letters, a scandal-maker, a master of literary self-promotion, and one of the most outspoken voices of the Renaissance.