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Novelle
Tragiche storie d’amore come quella celeberrima di Romeo e Giulietta, fosche tragedie come quella di Ugo e la Parisina, ma anche feroci beffe all’indirizzo di ecclesiastici, signori e popolani: questi e molti altri sono gli argomenti delle Novelle raccolte da Matteo Bandello, narratore delle corti, di cui qui si offre una significativa selezione. Subito premiata da un enorme successo in tutta Europa, grazie agli intrecci “noir” ma anche comici e grotteschi, l’opera del Bandello ispirò nei secoli scrittori e drammaturghi come Shakespeare, Cervantes, Stendhal, Balzac e D’Annunzio e ancora oggi, grazie alla inesauribile varietà di situazioni e narratori, affascina il lettore immergendolo nella tumultuosa vita dell’Italia del primo Cinquecento.
705 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 2009
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About the author
Matteo Bandello
310 books2 followersMatteo Bandello (c. 1480–1562) was an Italian writer, mostly known for his novellas.
Matteo Bandello was born at Castelnuovo Scrivia, near Tortona (current Piedmont), c. 1480. He received a good education, and entered the church, but does not seem to have been very interested in theology. For many years he lived at Mantua and Castel Goffredo, and superintended the education of the celebrated Lucrezia Gonzaga, in whose honour he composed a long poem. The decisive Battle of Pavia, as a result of which Lombardy was taken by the emperor, compelled Bandello to flee; his house at Milan was burnt and his property confiscated. He took refuge with Cesare Fregoso, an Italian general in the French service, whom he accompanied into France.
He was later raised to the bishopric of Agen, a town in which he resided for many years before his death in 1562. Bandello wrote a number of poems, but his fame rests entirely on his extensive collection of Novelle, or tales (1554, 1573), which have been extremely popular. They belong to the same genre as Boccaccio’s Decameron and Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron. The common origin of them all is to be found in the old French fabliaux[citation needed], though some well-known tales are evidently Eastern, and others classical. Bandello’s novellas are thought the best of those written in imitation of the Decameron, though Italian critics find fault with them for negligence and inelegance of style.
The stories on which William Shakespeare based several of his plays (Much Ado about Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night in particular) were supplied by Bandello, probably through Belleforest and Pierre Boaistuau whose stories were later translated into English by William Paynter and included in his The Palace of Pleasure. Another of his stories includes "The countess of Cellant", a distortion of Challand, a northwest region of Italy.
French language record: Mathieu Bandel
Matteo Bandello was born at Castelnuovo Scrivia, near Tortona (current Piedmont), c. 1480. He received a good education, and entered the church, but does not seem to have been very interested in theology. For many years he lived at Mantua and Castel Goffredo, and superintended the education of the celebrated Lucrezia Gonzaga, in whose honour he composed a long poem. The decisive Battle of Pavia, as a result of which Lombardy was taken by the emperor, compelled Bandello to flee; his house at Milan was burnt and his property confiscated. He took refuge with Cesare Fregoso, an Italian general in the French service, whom he accompanied into France.
He was later raised to the bishopric of Agen, a town in which he resided for many years before his death in 1562. Bandello wrote a number of poems, but his fame rests entirely on his extensive collection of Novelle, or tales (1554, 1573), which have been extremely popular. They belong to the same genre as Boccaccio’s Decameron and Marguerite de Navarre’s Heptameron. The common origin of them all is to be found in the old French fabliaux[citation needed], though some well-known tales are evidently Eastern, and others classical. Bandello’s novellas are thought the best of those written in imitation of the Decameron, though Italian critics find fault with them for negligence and inelegance of style.
The stories on which William Shakespeare based several of his plays (Much Ado about Nothing, Romeo and Juliet and Twelfth Night in particular) were supplied by Bandello, probably through Belleforest and Pierre Boaistuau whose stories were later translated into English by William Paynter and included in his The Palace of Pleasure. Another of his stories includes "The countess of Cellant", a distortion of Challand, a northwest region of Italy.
French language record: Mathieu Bandel
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 5, 2015
Matteo Bandello's Novelle present a great opportunity for some young person aspiring to make a career for him or herself as a professor of comparative literature by presenting the argument that Matteo Bandello is the great story writer of the Italian Renaissance that one must read in order to acquire a complete culture. Currently Boccaccio holds this position and while I tend to agree with the current consensus that Boccaccio is the better of the two writers, he is better by only a narrow margin. Bandello, on the other hand, was undoubtedly the one who had the greatest impact. It was his tales, notably the Duchess of Malfi and Romeo and Juliet which that sparked the great flowering of drama in the Elizabethan England.
I recommend to anyone who enjoyed the Decameron to read a collection of tales taken from the Bandello catalogue. Bandello's tales which were written about a century and a half later are very similar to those of Boccaccio. Most involve a romantic intrigue. While Boccaccio offers risqué tales in profusion, Bandello most of the time seems to be a straightforward defender of chastity and marital fidelity. Nonetheless, there is the occasional naughty story in Bandello's work. Surprisingly, Bandello is quite proud to let the reader know that the founders of his noble family began their conjugal duties well before getting married.
Boccaccio was a commoner. His stories feature both nobles and commoners. Bandello, on the other hand, was a noble and only members of the nobility appear in his tales which is one reason that many modern readers are more likely to be comfortable with Boccaccio.
Where Bandello appeals more to the modern reader is the way he communicates his compassion for those characters who come to tragic ends. Bandello is greatly saddened by the fate of the Duchess of Malfi, and of Romeo and of Juliet. Boccaccio in contrast is quite dispassionate when he tells of good people who come to bad ends.
If you can accept the idea that more than one Renaissance short story writer belongs in the canon, then I urge you to sample Bandello. The majority of readers fell that reading one work from an obscure pre-modern period is sufficient. Thus while everyone acknowledges that one has a duty to read Beowulf, the generally accepted viewpoint is that to read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in addition would be going too far. Given the reality of how people plan out their lifetime reading, some young academic needs to take up the cause of Bandello for the English Reading public. Bandello simply deserves a bigger audience than he currently has.
I recommend to anyone who enjoyed the Decameron to read a collection of tales taken from the Bandello catalogue. Bandello's tales which were written about a century and a half later are very similar to those of Boccaccio. Most involve a romantic intrigue. While Boccaccio offers risqué tales in profusion, Bandello most of the time seems to be a straightforward defender of chastity and marital fidelity. Nonetheless, there is the occasional naughty story in Bandello's work. Surprisingly, Bandello is quite proud to let the reader know that the founders of his noble family began their conjugal duties well before getting married.
Boccaccio was a commoner. His stories feature both nobles and commoners. Bandello, on the other hand, was a noble and only members of the nobility appear in his tales which is one reason that many modern readers are more likely to be comfortable with Boccaccio.
Where Bandello appeals more to the modern reader is the way he communicates his compassion for those characters who come to tragic ends. Bandello is greatly saddened by the fate of the Duchess of Malfi, and of Romeo and of Juliet. Boccaccio in contrast is quite dispassionate when he tells of good people who come to bad ends.
If you can accept the idea that more than one Renaissance short story writer belongs in the canon, then I urge you to sample Bandello. The majority of readers fell that reading one work from an obscure pre-modern period is sufficient. Thus while everyone acknowledges that one has a duty to read Beowulf, the generally accepted viewpoint is that to read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight in addition would be going too far. Given the reality of how people plan out their lifetime reading, some young academic needs to take up the cause of Bandello for the English Reading public. Bandello simply deserves a bigger audience than he currently has.
December 16, 2022
I recently read Bandello's Romeo and Juliet in Italian and it is a beautiful read. Unfortunately it has been virtually forgotten and sometimes deliberately obscured (as in the movie Shakespeare in Love - which - spoilers - is not historical).
Unfortunately parts of Bandello's version were lost in translation by the time it got to Shakespeare, so although Shakespeare takes it to the next level, we lose a couple of very moving scenes that Shakespeare certainly wouldn't have left on the cutting room floor. Well worth digging out a copy in English, if Italian is inaccessible. There are a number of translations available, a couple of old ones have been uploaded onto archive.org. In particular Matteo Bandello: Twelve Stories (J.C. Nimmo) which is a passable translation, although loses some of the beauty in parts. Well worth a read.
Unfortunately parts of Bandello's version were lost in translation by the time it got to Shakespeare, so although Shakespeare takes it to the next level, we lose a couple of very moving scenes that Shakespeare certainly wouldn't have left on the cutting room floor. Well worth digging out a copy in English, if Italian is inaccessible. There are a number of translations available, a couple of old ones have been uploaded onto archive.org. In particular Matteo Bandello: Twelve Stories (J.C. Nimmo) which is a passable translation, although loses some of the beauty in parts. Well worth a read.
May 10, 2023
Read for a university exam, some of the stories were interesting.
December 6, 2024
Giusto qualche gradino sotto il Decameron, ma è perdonabile.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews