Giovanni Della Casa, an Italian prelate and author, born near Florence, June 28, 1503, died in Rome, Nov. 14, 1556. He was of a distinguished family, studied in Bologna and Padua, and led a gay life in Rome; but becoming a priest in 1538, he was employed in 1541 on a papal mission to Florence, and elected to the newly founded accademia fiorentina. In 15-14 he became archbishop of Benevento, and was subsequently nuncio at Venice until after the death of Pope Paul III. (November, 154!)). The new pope, Julius III., being unfriendly to him, sold the post of clerk of the camera, which he had held for seven years. He returned to Venice, remaining there till after the accession of Paul IV. (1555), when his hopes of becoming a cardinal were frustrated partly by his promotion being urged by France, and probably still more by the existence of his licentious poem Capitoli del fomo. He did not long survive this disappointment. In point of style he was the best Italian prose writer of his day. His most celebrated work, Galateo, briefly laying down the rules of polite behavior and illustrating the manners of society, has been translated into foreign languages and passed through many additions.

His writings in Latin include translations from Plato and Aristotle. His lyrical poems, edited by Menage (Paris, 1667), are noted for their purity and delicacy. His licentious poem Capitoli (Venice, 1538-'64), has been expunged from the several editions of his complete works (3 vols., Florence, 1752; 4 vols., Milan, 1806).

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