Da Venezia a Urbino. Ideali e valori del giovane Bembo

In 1506 Pietro Bembo decided not to follow a political career in the Republic of Venice, and to devote himself to study. He did not succeed to settle in Rome, but, thanks to Elisabetta Gonzaga, he was received by the Duke of Urbino, where he lived until 1512. These years were crucial for the preparation of Prose della volgar lingua and his collection of Rime. The letters he wrote in this period are considered, and throw light upon the working out of his literary ideas, where Petrarch was a dominating model and which eventually brought him to turn away from the courtly life. For this reason later in his life he may have eliminated a good number of letters written in these years. Some dubious datations of his epistolary are discussed.