Iovianus Pontanus

Antonio Beccadelli was the first to introduce the young scholar Iovianus Pontanus or Giovanni Pontano to the ruler of. Giovanni Pontano tutored the young heir of Alphonso the Magnanimous, served as a political adviser, military secretary and chancellor but his chief claim was as a scholar. Topics such as 'Liberality of Princes', 'Ferocity' or 'Magnificence' were discussed by him, and he argued that architecture and great monuments were the mark of a great ruler. He could express the facts of modern life and the actualities of personal emotion in a language that was sufficiently classical yet always characteristic of the man. Urania was his ambitious didactic composition in hexameters that embodied the astronomical science of the age, adorned with a high theme of mythological episodes. He wrote in Latin and his most original compositions in verse were on personal topics — the De conjugali amore, Eridanus, Tumuli, Naeniae, Baiae - his passionate emotions were uttered with a warmth of coloring and sincerity.