Abstract

The aim of this paper is to encourage new researches about biography and bibliography of the canterino poet Notturno Napoletano. After an evalutation of the different theories about his identity proposed over the centuries, especially Antonio Caracciolo and Marc’Antonio Epicuro, which leads to the statement that actually none of these theories seems completely persuasive, the essay proposes an accurate analysis of Notturno’s prints, of his prolific literary production and of the coeval witnesses, in order to find more hints about his biography. In conclusion we hypothesize a time span for Notturno’s life (between the end of the fifteenth century and circa 1530) and we point out some evidences about his movements in central-northen Italy, among the main Renaissance courts, before his definitive retirement to Naples.