Encyclopedia of the Renaissance and the Reformation

(Bozica Vekic) #1

Further reading: Anthony and Sue Grafton, Joseph
Scaliger: A Study in the History of Classical Scholarship,
2 vols (Oxford, U.K. and New York: Oxford University
Press, 1983, 93; repr. 1997).


Scaliger, Julius Caesar (1484–1558) Italian humanist
Scaliger was born at Riva, Lake Garda, and, according to
his own account, from the age of 12 he served Emperor
Maximilian as a soldier for 17 years before studying at the
university of Bologna. He migrated to France (1526) and
settled at Agen. In the quarrel with ERASMUSover Cicero-
nianism he championed the Ciceronians’ cause (see CI-
CERO). He published several volumes of Latin verse and
his Poetices (1561) was a key text in Renaissance literary
theory, especially in its formulation of Aristotle’s doctrine
of the unities in tragedy. His main importance is as a phi-
losopher; his commentaries on Aristotle and Theophras-
tus show acute power of reasoning and wide knowledge
but retain a fundamental acceptance of the authority of
Aristotle.


Scamozzi, Vincenzo (1552–1616) Italian architect and
theorist
Born in Vicenza, Scamozzi was trained by his father and
executed important commissions in Rome and Padua. He
was greatly influenced by Andrea PALLADIO, three of
whose buildings he completed after Palladio’s death, in-
cluding the Villa ROTONDAon which Scamozzi modeled
his own Rocca Pisani at Lonigo (1576). Scamozzi’s origi-
nal works incorporate many Palladian features, notably in
the Procuratie Nuove in Venice, begun in 1584. He was
also the architect of two THEATERS, the Teatro Olimpico in
Vicenza (1584) and the Teatro di Vespasiano Gonzaga in
Sabbioneta (1588). Scamozzi traveled widely and was the
author of an influential treatise, mainly written in the
1590s, L’idea dell’architettura universale (1615); this sum-
marized his views of baroque art and had a considerable
impact upon English neoclassical architecture. He also
produced designs for Salzburg cathedral and the Italian
fortress of Palmanova.


Scève, Maurice (c. 1501–c. 1564) French poet
The son of a magistrate, Scève made his name in the liter-
ary world with his alleged discovery of the tomb of PE-
TRARCH’s Laura at Avignon and with his first anthology,
Blasons (c. 1536). He became leader of a group of poets in
his native Lyons, whose other members included Antoine
HÉROET, Pernette DU GUILLET, and Louise LABÉ: Pernette
du Guillet is believed to have been the inspiration for
much of Scève’s poetry. Délie, objet de plus haute vertu
(1544) is a series of 449 decasyllabic 10-line stanzas that
deals in symbolic and metaphysical terms with the subject
of love, and is heavily influenced by Plato and Petrarch;
the title of the poem has been the subject of some specu-
lation, “Délie” being interpreted by certain scholars as an


anagram of “l’idëe” (“the idea”). Scève’s other works in-
clude the pastoral poem La Saulsaye, eglogue de la vie soli-
taire (1547) and Microcosme (1562), an epic account of
the fall and redemption of mankind.

Schardt, Jan Jorisz. van der (c. 1530–1581)
Netherlands sculptor
Born at Nijmegen and initially trained in the Netherlands,
Schardt was active in Italy during the 1560s. After execut-
ing works for Emperor Maximilian II and King Frederick
II of Denmark, he had arrived in Nuremberg by 1570.
There he executed such works as the life-size terracotta
bust of Willibald Imhof (Berlin) and the painted faience
medallions of Paul von Praun (now divided between
Nuremberg and Stuttgart). Although the latter is known to
have owned dozens of terracottas and some bronzes by
Schardt, very few of these can be traced. Schardt’s severe
realism owes more to the Italian tradition than to his ex-
periences in Italy. Although a foreigner, he may be

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Vincenzo Scamozzi The symmetry of the exterior of the
Rocca Pisani at Lonigo, near Vicenza, is repeated in the plan
of the interior, as shown in an illustration from Scamozzi’s
L’idea dell’architettura universale (1615).
By permission of the British Library (50.f.13)
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