, surnamed Ruzzante, was born at Padua, about 1502, and died in 1542. He
, surnamed Ruzzante, was born at
Padua, about 1502, and died in 1542. He applied himself early in life to study the manners, gesture, and language of villagers, and copied every particular that savoured of simplicity, drollery, and the grotesque. He was
the Vade of the Italians. His rustic farces, though written
in a low and vulgar style, are yet pleasing to people of education, by the correctness with which the countrymen are
represented, and by the witticisms with which they are seasoned. He preferred being the first in this species of composition, to being the second in a more elevated line. His
principal pieces are, la Vaccaria, PAnconitana, la Moschetta, la Fiorina, la Piovana, &c. These were printed
with other poems of the same kind in 1584 in 12mo, under
this title, “Tutte le opere del famosissimo lluzzante,
” and
have often been republished.