Acrostici palesi e criptati in alcune poesie più o meno note dell’umanesimo italiano

The acrostic is among the most famous rhetorical expedients to hide messages. Authors’ and dedicatees’ names, dates and even poetry manifestos can often be concealed within the initials of literary texts, such as Rinuccini’s ‘NO A DANTE’ (‘No to Dante’). The goal of this paper is to focus on Latin and vulgar literature throughout the Italian Renaissance, well-known for its attitude towards experiments. While "Hypnerotomachia Poliphili" was being printed, we can find acrostics, mesostics and telestics in Lancino Curti’s and Giovanni Pollio Lappoli’s production, combinations of anagram and acrostic in "Zodiacus vitae" by Marcello Palingenio (alias Pier Angelo Manciollo). Another very interesting crossover will be the one with Lidio Catti’s "carmen anguineum", which can be read only by decoding the right disposition of its words. In some "anguinea", copied by the Venetian Marin Sanudo in 16th century, the "more anguineo" reading involves also acrostics hiding dates of the events concerning Ravenna during the Italian Wars.