Aretino's Urban Gardens

‘Petrus Arretinus vir acerrimi iudicii’ – Pietro Aretino, a man of most acute mind – went down in history as an intimate of Agostino Chigi (1466–1520), the great banker and patron of the arts. In his letters and drama, Aretino frequently evokes the golden years he spent as a protégé and household member. He recalls his brief but formative residence at Chigi's Villa Farnesina (ca. 1516–1520) as a time of freedom and creativity, when allegedly he gained the friendship and respect of the major artists who worked there. This article will review Aretino's literary evocations of the Chigi environment, especially its green spaces and gardens. In contrast to his famous portrait of Venice, Aretino's cityscape of remembered Rome gives us an ecology of the urban garden. As well as the published letters and the Cortigiana, it will draw on the Ragionamenti, dialogues that observe Roman life through the characters of marginalized and disreputable women.