Poesia e 'sodalitas' nella Napoli del primo Cinquecento: Giovanni Cotta e Cosimo Anisio

In 1533 Cosimo Anisio published in Naples his Varia poemata, in four books, within the larger anthology of Poemata. In this poetic collection the humanist included not only his youthful writings, but also four lyrics by Giovanni Cotta, a Veronese poet active in Naples in the early Sixteenth century, to save them from oblivion and hand them over to posterity. This essay analyses Cotta’s poems in Anisio’s anthology, as well as the lyrics that Cosimo dedicated to his youngest friend. An updated Italian translation of these epigrams, a careful commentary on the sources and a new interpretation proposal are also offered.