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Pietro Aretino

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Author

The Resume

    (April 20, 1492-October 21, 1556)
    Born in Arezzo, Italy
    Satirist, poet and playwright
    Wrote ‘The Last Will and Testament of the Elephant Hanno,’ ‘Dear Boy,’ ‘The School of Whoredom,’ ‘The Secret Lives of Nuns,’ ‘The Secret Lives of Wives’ and ‘Lust Sonnets’

Why he might be annoying:

    He was born out of wedlock to a shoemaker, but claimed that a nobleman was his real father.
    He was forced to flee his home town at fourteen after vandalizing a statue of Mary Magdalene.
    His ‘Lust Sonnets,’ written to accompany a series of pornographic drawings, were so controversial that he was forced to leave Rome.
    He decided to settle in Venice because he considered it ‘the seat of all vices.’
    He supported himself financially by accepting payments from people who wanted to be left out of his satires. Or payments from people who wanted their enemies to be featured in his satires.
    He reportedly died laughing while being told a bawdy story by his sister.
    Nearly five centuries after they were written, his ‘Lust Sonnets’ were still hot enough that the printed programs had to be withdrawn to avoid obscenity charges at a London performance of a Michael Nyman composition that used the poems as a text (2008).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His willingness to mock the political and religious leaders of the day, all the way up to Pope Leo X, earned him the nickname ‘the Scourge of Princes.’
    He survived an assassination attempt sponsored by one of the targets of his satire, Bishop Giovanni Gilberti (1525).
    His right hand was badly cut while defending himself, so he wrote as a lefty for a couple of years.
    He was a good friend of Titian, who painted his portrait three times.
    He was the model for St. Bartholomew in Michelangelo’s ‘Last Judgment.’
    He was named a Knight of Rhodes by Pope Clement VII and a Knight of St. Peter by Pope Julius III.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying