On Saturday, Jan. 28, at 5 p.m., the little theater of Valvasone Castle will host the presentation of the volume La Difesa dela ‘Georgica’ di Virgilio.
Erasmo di Valvasone’s text, preserved in manuscript, had until now never seen the light of the press: it now does so under the care of Alberto Pavan, accompanied by a comprehensive introduction and rich commentary, which allow the reader to delve into the poetic world of the Friulian author.
Originally conceived as an apologia for the Virgilian didactic poem, La Difesa dela ‘Georgica’ is actually a fundamental theoretical key to understanding not only Erasmus’ work, but a whole turn of the sixteenth-century tradition: reaffirming the value of the poem without narrative, it offers both an individual manifesto (followed in practice by La Angeleida and La Caccia) and, above all, a full-throated defense of Poetry, which opposes rigid Aristotelian dogmatism and opens a track to Baroque experimentalism.
The editor of the edition, Alberto Pavan, discusses it with historians Franco Colussi and Angelo Floramo and with Tancredi Artico, at 5 pm.
Around 6:30 p.m., toast and delivery of copies.
For those who like, a guided tour of the castle’s main floor will follow.
The event is free, reservation required: prenotazioni@iodeposito.org
