«Ch’ëo dica gli gradi e la vertute». Una canzone filosofica di Nicolò de’ Rossi e le sue fonti

Abstract

This article proposes an analysis of the philosophical canzone, Color di perla, by Nicolò de’ Rossi of Treviso. Written in the first quarter of the 14th century together with a commentary in Latin by de’ Rossi himself, the canzone is the first work that opens the well-known manuscript, Vaticano Barberiniano Latino 3953. The first section of the manuscript contains an interesting collection of texts that all share the common theme of virtue, and it had probably been compiled as a gift and sort of ‘admonition’ for Guecello Tempesta, de’ Rossi’s noble patron. Color di perla has for some time now been recognised as being a reply to Guido Cavalcanti’s celebrated canzone, Donna me prega, which is also present in the manuscript. Through a systematic study of the Latin commentary and its sources, this article aims first of all to clarify the philosophical scope of de’ Rossi’s ‘mystical’ interpretation of ‘true love’. In so doing, not only will the analysis provide a deeper understanding of Nicolò de’ Rossi’s position in relation to Cavalcanti’s canzone, but it will also shed further light on de’ Rossi’s relations with the cultural milieu of his time, in particular in his earlier years in Bologna, where the law faculty held close ties with the Dominican order.