Alleged Imitations of Petrarch in the "Filostrato"

Abstract

WO passages in Boccaccio's Filostrato have been regarded as imitations of undated sonnets of Petrarch by scholars who have assumed that Boccaccio was acquainted with some of Petrarch's lyric poems by 1338, the year in which the Filostrato was probably written.1 Savj-Lopez held that Filostrato, iii, 83-85 is Petrarchan in inspiration,2 and this opinion was accepted by President Wilkins, who declared that Filostrato, v, 54-55 also is derived from a sonnet by Petrarch.3 A third passage, Filostrato, v, 62, was said to be Petrarchan by Savj-Lopez, but Volpi showed that this and the three following ottave are a close paraphrase of the canzone La dolce vista e '1 bel guardo soave by Cino da Pistoia and that the resemblances between Boccaccio and Petrarch result from the fact that Petrarch also drew upon that canzone.4