Abstract

On the assumption that Leopardi's pessimism was ensconced within the Old Testament tradition, this essay offers a close-reading of Leopardi's satirical poem I nuovi credenti with a view to: (1) arguing that Leopardi delves into that tradition in order to fashion himself as an old prophet, (2) demonstrating that the Biblical figures function as a foil to the hypocrisy of Leopardi's opponents, who are representatives of Catholic spiritualism, (3) suggesting that the choice of the satirical genre is the most appropriate poetic means to reinstate the moral validity of Leopardi's pessimism against the moral corruption of modern religiousness.