Momus

"Momus" is the most ambitious literary creation of Leon Battista Alberti, the famous humanist-scientist-artist and "universal man" of the Italian Renaissance. In this dark comedy, written around 1450, Alberti charts the lively fortunes of his anti-hero Momus, the unscrupulous and vitriolic god of criticism. Alberti deploys his singular erudition and wit to satirize subjects from court life and politics to philosophy and intellectuals, from grand architectural designs to human and divine folly. The possible contemporary resonance of Alberti's satire--read variously as a humanist roman-à -clef and as a veiled mockery of the mid-Quattrocento papacy--is among its most intriguing aspects. While his more famous books on architecture, painting, and family life have long been regarded as indispensable to a study of Renaissance culture, "Momus" has recently attracted increasing attention from scholars as a work anticipating the realism of Machiavelli and the satiric wit of Erasmus. This edition provides a new Latin text, the first to be based on the two earliest manuscripts, both corrected by Alberti himself, and includes the first full translation into English.

About the author

Sarah Knight is Professor of Renaissance Literature at the University of Leicester.Virginia Brown is Senior Fellow, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto.

Summary

Momus is the most ambitious literary creation of Leon Battista Alberti, the humanist-scientist-artist and “universal man“ of the Italian Renaissance. In this dark comedy, written around 1450, Alberti charts the fortunes of his anti-hero Momus, god of criticism. This edition offers a new Latin text and the first full translation into English.

Product details

• Authors: Leon Battista Alberti, Alberti Leon Battista
• Assisted by: Virginia Brown (Editor), Brown Virginia (Editor), Sarah Knight (Editor), Sarah Knight (Translation), Knight Sarah (Editor and translation)
• Publisher: University Presses
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.06.2003
• EAN: 9780674007543
• ISBN: 978-0-674-00754-3
• Dimensions: 133 mm x 203 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 553 g
• Series: The I Tatti Renaissance Library
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History; LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Essays, Latin, LITERARY CRITICISM / Ancient & Classical, LITERARY CRITICISM / Medieval, Literary studies: classical, early & medieval, c 1000 CE to c 1500, Literary essays, Literary studies: fiction, novelists & prose writers, Literary studies: fiction, novelists and prose writers, Literary studies: ancient, classical and medieval, LITERARY CRITICISM / Novel as Form