Reappraising the Charlatan in Early Modern Italy: The Case of Iacopo Coppa

Abstract

Among the ‘professional’ charlatans of the sixteenth century, the figure of Jacopo Coppa stands out. Doctor, poet, performer and publisher of both his and other authors’ works, Coppa spent his life travelling throughout the peninsula, advertising his medical skills and selling his products in the piazzas. Despite the existence of several documents that bear witness to Coppa’s life and professional career, it is difficult to capture the real nature of his activity. By reconsidering the relevant documentation — including Coppa’s edition of Ludovico Ariosto’s Erbolato and his own poetical works — the article focuses on the rhetorical strategies that characterized the performances of the charlatan as well as his self-promotion. In particular, the analysis of Coppa’s Lamento della Virtù will confirm the charlatan’s familiarity with techniques typical of contemporary mountebanks and street singers. Finally, the study of a previously unknown broadside ascribed to Jacopo Coppa and concerned with the advertisement of a miraculous nostrum, will illuminate the way in which charlatans promoted both themselves and their products during their public performances.