Classicismo ed élites locali nel Rinascimento meridionale. Il caso di Lelio Gentile di Capua

The Capuan nobleman and humanist Lelio Gentile ({1526) inherited and restored an ancient villa built on the ruins of the Roman Capitolium, in the core of the ancient Capua. According to the text of an inscription composed by Lelio himself and preserved by later antiquarian sources, he dedicated his villa to the Muses, Apollo and the Genius, and aimed to use it as a meeting place for humanists and poets, following the model of such illustrious predecessors as Alfonso of Calabria, Iacopo Sannazaro, and so forth. Lelio was also in contact with the intellectual milieu of the royal court of Naples, as it is witnessed by his friendship with Benet Gareth, also known as Chariteo, and with Cosimo Anisio. The former dedicated to Lelio an encomiastic sonnet, the latter a Latin poem, both of which are published here.