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Document Details : Title: The Promise of Immortality in Maffeo Vegio's Supplementum Aeneidos Subtitle: A Reassessment of the Poem Based on its Dedicatory Letter to Francesco Barbavara Author(s): PARGA ORNELAS, Iván Journal: Humanistica Lovaniensia Volume: 73 Date: 2024 Pages: 41-64 DOI: 10.2143/HLO.73.0.3294192 Abstract : This article reassesses Maffeo Vegio’s Supplementum Aeneidos based on long overlooked materials that situate the poem in its historical context. Among these is the dedication of the Supplementum to Francesco Barbavara, secretary of Filippo Maria Visconti, transcribed here with an English translation and commentary. The other materials examined are poems written shortly after the Supplementum, in which Vegio develops his ideas on poetry and patronage. The information given by the dedication and the comparison with Vegio’s contemporary patronage-oriented poems allow us to read the Supplementum in a new light: as a poem about the poetical promise of immortality. Vegio presents the reader with a world in which immortality is still attainable and creates connections between that mythical past and the Milan of his time. The apotheosis of Aeneas represents the possibility that his descendant, Filippo Maria, could be immortalized, provided he grants Vegio the support that Augustus granted Virgil. |
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