Ariosto and the Arabs - Contexts for the Orlando Furioso - Research Series Volume 4

Aug 24, 2026

A research volume in the I Tatti Research Series examining “Ariosto and the Arabs” as a set of interrelated textual, geographical, visual, and performative contexts for Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando furioso. The collection traces Arabic and Islamic cultural presences, plurilingual motifs, and religious perspectives, while also situating the work within Mamluk Egypt and Syria, the Arabian Nights world, and the Este court’s geo-cartographic culture. Essays further explore visual traditions and performance repertoires, linking heroic poetry and intercultural artistic networks across the Middle Sea.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages472

Reading Time19 h 49 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction: Investigating Landscapes around “Ariosto and the Arabs”

Part I Textual Contexts: Inside the Furioso

Ariosto and Arabic: Notes on an Unaccomplished Contiguity—A Prologue

Chivalric Plurilingualism as a Motif in Italian Literature: From the Franco-Italian Tradition to Ariosto

Orlando furioso: The Saracen Perspective

Ariosto’s Religion

Part II Textual Contexts: Around the Furioso

Literary Life in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250–1517): A Forgotten Heyday of Arabic Culture

From al-Barqa¯ to Albracca: Orlando furioso and the World of the Arabian Nights

Jews and Judaism in Ariosto’s Literary Production

“A un giovane Aphrican si donò in tutto”: The Marriage of Africa and India in Ariosto and Camões

Part III Geographical and Visual Contexts

“Popul la più parte circonciso”: Ariosto in Ferrara and the Muslim World of His Time

Ariosto, the Arabs, and the Geo-cartographic Culture of the Este Court

The Middle Eastern Intellectual and Artistic Context at the Time of Ariosto

Images of Rodomonte: The Ambiguous Allure of the Enemy in the Furioso and in the Ariostan Figurative Tradition

Intercultural Threads in the Figurative Legacy of the Orlando furioso

Part IV Performative Contexts

“And of these things a dream was left behind called ʿAntar”: Arabic Performance Traditions of Heroic Poetry

Performing the Medieval Greek Romance from Digenis Akritis to the Erotokritos

Trobar, Cantar, Recitar: Performative Poetics across the Middle Sea—An Epilogue

I Tatti Research Series 4 ARIOSTO AND THE ARABS Contexts for the Orlando Furioso edited by Mario Casari, Monica Preti, and Michael Wyatt I Tatti – The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies Via di Vincigliata, 26 50135 Florence – Italy [itatti.harvard.edu](itatti.harvard.edu) Project coordinator: Thomas Gruber Published and distributed in Italy by Officina Libraria Via dei Villini, 10 00161 Rome – Italy [officinalibraria.net](officinalibraria.net) Publisher and project coordinator: Marco Jellinek Art director: Paola Gallerani Layout: Elisabetta Mancini Editorial assistant: Matilde Fracchiolla Copyediting: Hester Highton Index: Simone Sirocchi Color separation: Premani srl, Pantigliate (Milano) Printed and bound by Esperia, Lavis (Trento) Publication of this volume has been made possible by The Myron and Sheila Gilmore Publication Fund at I Tatti The Robert Lehman Endowment Fund The Jean-François Malle Scholarly Programs and Publications Fund The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fund for Scholarly Programs and Publications The Barbara and Craig Smyth Fund for Scholarly Programs and Publications The Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund The Malcolm Wiener Fund for Scholarly Programs and Publications Worldwide distribution by Harvard University Press Italian distribution by Officina Libraria All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN 978-06-7427-879-0 (Harvard University Press) ISBN 978-88-3367-152-9 (Officina Libraria) © 2022 I Tatti – The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, Florence © 2022 Officina Libraria, Rome CONTENTS Acknowledgments 7 Editorial Note 9 Introduction: Investigating Landscapes around “Ariosto and the Arabs” 11 Mario Casari, Monica Preti, Michael Wyatt PART I Textual Contexts: Inside the Furioso Ariosto and Arabic: Notes on an Unaccomplished Contiguity—A Prologue 25 Mario Casari Chivalric Plurilingualism as a Motif in Italian Literature: From the Franco-Italian Tradition to Ariosto 55 Jacopo Gesiot Orlando furioso: The Saracen Perspective 75 Maria Pavlova Ariosto’s Religion 99 Stefano Jossa PART II Textual Contexts: Around the Furioso Literary Life in Mamluk Egypt and Syria (1250–1517): A Forgotten Heyday of Arabic Culture Thomas Bauer From al-Barqa¯ to Albracca: Orlando furioso and the World of the Arabian Nights Claudia Ott Jews and Judaism in Ariosto’s Literary Production Fabrizio Lelli “A un giovane Aphrican si donò in tutto”: The Marriage of Africa and India in Ariosto and Camões Vincent Barletta Part III Geographical and Visual Contexts “Popul la più parte circonciso”: Ariosto in Ferrara and the Muslim World of His Time Giovanni Ricci Ariosto, the Arabs, and the Geo-cartographic Culture of the Este Court Massimo Rossi 133 153 169 195 215 233 The Middle Eastern Intellectual and Artistic Context at the Time of Ariosto Anna Contadini Images of Rodomonte: The Ambiguous Allure of the Enemy in the Furioso and in the Ariostan Figurative Tradition Vincenzo Farinella Intercultural Threads in the Figurative Legacy of the Orlando furioso: Two Ariostan Plates of Otto Vaenius on the Chastity and Indecency of Women Monica Preti Part IV Performative Contexts “And of these things a dream was left behind called ʿAntar”: Arabic Performance Traditions of Heroic Poetry Dwight F. Reynolds Performing the Medieval Greek Romance from Digenis Akritis to the Erotokritos Adam J. Goldwyn and Przemysław T. Marciniak Trobar, Cantar, Recitar: Performative Poetics across the Middle Sea—An Epilogue Michael Wyatt Contributors Photo Credits Index of Names 265 313 341 381 401 425 453 457 458 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The volume presented here is t

FAQs

What is the central focus of “Ariosto and the Arabs” in this volume?

The volume investigates “Ariosto and the Arabs” through multiple contexts—textual, geographical and visual, and performative—linking Ariosto’s Orlando furioso to Arabic and related cultural worlds.

Which themes does Part I cover within the Furioso?

Part I centers on textual contexts inside the Orlando furioso, including Ariosto and Arabic relations, chivalric plurilingualism, the Saracen perspective, and Ariosto’s religious dimension.

How does the book extend beyond literary analysis?

Later sections examine wider cultural settings: Mamluk Egypt and Syria, the Arabian Nights network, the Este court’s geo-cartographic culture, visual traditions, and Arabic and Mediterranean performance traditions.

Aug 24, 2026

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