Giovanni Filippo Gherardini: poesia, accademie letterarie e vita civile nella Milano del tardo Rinascimento

This article sheds light on literary life in the Duchy of Milan during the second half of the sixteenth century through the figure of the poet Giovanni Filippo Gherardini, revealing a more dynamic and multifaceted landscape than commonly assumed. Gherardini skilfully navigated the leading institutions of Milanese society with notable independence and freedom: the Spanish governorship, the local patriciate, the Borromean curia, and the academies of the Val di Blenio and the Affidati. He also held public offices within the Magistrato di Sanità and the archepiscopal charitable institutions. Drawing on unpublished sources, the study reconstructs his biography, networks, and poetic production, distinguished by metrical experimentation and stylistic virtuosity. For the first time, his dispersed and unedited works are brought together. These include ekphrastic poems dedicated to Arcimboldo and Lomazzo, verses on the “Plague of St. Charles”, academic compositions, encomiastic and epithalamic poems addressed to ecclesiastical and political figures, funeral elegies, and poetic exchanges with prominent intellectuals such as Goselini, Morigia, Baldini and Puteano. Together, these works offer a significant insight into the vibrant literary culture of late Renaissance Lombardy