Occasioni e allusioni del "Messaggiero"

This contribution proposes a reading of Il Messaggiero, a dialogue composed between 1580 and 1587, in which Torquato Tasso deliberately aims to promote an image of himself as a poet, philosopher, and courtier. The identification of new sources allows for a better understanding of the text's compositional process and provides insight into the goals pursued by the author. After a detailed analysis of the famous passage in which Tasso discusses his own melancholy, the article examines the pages on magic and astrology, as well as the dedicatory letter and the conclusion, where references to the poet's actual condition as a prisoner at the hospital of Sant'Anna in 1580 are most noticeable. Finally, the study proposes a link between the themes addressed in the dialogue and its dedicatee, Vincenzo Gonzaga, Prince of Mantua Vincenzo Gonzaga.