Le accademie venosine dei Piacevoli e dei Rinascenti. I testi, il canone e le politiche culturali

This essay examines several aspects hitherto little surveyed, relating to the two Academies born in Venosa between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries: the Piacevoli and the Rinascenti. The analysis focuses mainly on the texts and lessons. For the former Academy, the “mythicized” cult of Horace is highlighted. Thanks to this, the local elites try to give Venosa a symbolic centrality. For the latter Rinascenti, on the other hand, a greater modernistic trend can be identified and, moreover, the connection with the Accademia degli Oziosi in Naples. Finally, at the political level, my analysis emphasizes the difference between the two experiences. The Piacevoli had the local patriciate as their fulcrum, with the support of Scipione de’ Monti; for the Rinascenti, however, the political-cultural initiative of Prince Emanuele Gesualdo was decisive.