Fra ‘Liberata’ e ‘Conquistata’: nuove prospettive sulle fonti sacre tassiane

The article retraces the milestones in the history of criticism as regards the relationship between Torquato Tasso’s work and the sphere of sacredness. Navigating between seventeenth-century biographies and contemporary studies, we examine how the attention of scholars has shifted from the biographical and devotional aspects to a more exquisitely literary and exegetical dimension, together with the decline of ideologically influenced interpretations. The second part of the essay particularly deals with epic poetry, on the basis of Ottavio Ghidini’s monograph and other recent studies on this topic. Within this perspective, we analyze new acquisitions considering the presence and the role of Biblical, patristic and devotional sources in the Jerusalem Delivered and the Jerusalem Conquered