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LIONARDO SALVIATI (1539-1589) The bran sifter, a leading Italian philologist
Lionardo Salviati, son of Giovambattista di Lionardo Salviati, may not be a household name today among many Florentines, but his influence has extended to the modern age. He was a learned humanist, philologist, and also a master of oratory of the 16th century. At a young age, Lionardo was interested in philological and linguistic research, and produced a number of works, some of which were published during his lifetime while others survived only in manuscript forms. His most wellknown accomplishments include the publication of an updated edition of Boccaccio’s Decameron, and to have been one of the founding members of the Accademia della Crusca in Florence between 1582 and 1583. The good editor of Decameron Decameron, sometimes referred to as l’Umana commedia (“The Human Comedy,” in contrast to Dante’s “Divine Comedy”), is a frame narrative written by Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century. The book contains a collection of 100 tales told by a group of seven women and three men. The storytellers tried to escape the Black Death by staying in a villa outside of Florence. Although the book was considered a masterpiece of classical early Italian prose and enjoyed great popularity, its anti-clerical stance caused conflict with the Catholic Church. It was one of the works burned in the “Bonfire of the Vanities” in 1497 in Florence, and was later placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum (“List of Prohibited Books”) instituted by Pope Paul IV in 1559. However, due to its literary importance, the book was later moved to a different list of titles which, after
