Filone Alessandrino a Venezia nel ’500. Le prime traduzioni in volgare italiano

Abstract The first translations of Philo into the Italian vernacular date back to the second half of the 16th century and took place in Venice. The cosmopolitan and flourishing Venetian environment plays a fundamental role in the Mediterranean and European economy and is at the center of a network of international relationships. The city is a center of attraction for intellectuals and artists and the book business is experiencing great development there. The Venetian translations of Philo constitute an interesting mirror of different positions, more or less linked to reformed theses or to the Church of Rome. They are conducted over a period of twenty-six years (1548–1574), a period in which we witness profound changes in the relations between Rome and Venice. Philo seems to be able to constitute a mirror and perhaps an instrument of such changes. In the lively climate of the ‘Serenissima’, crossed by reformist and counter-reformist impulses, where cultural openness is expressed in publications, literary meetings, cenacles, academies, confraternities and where the vernacular version of ancient works has a certain diffusion, Philo is used with in different ways by representatives of different trends. The very fact that his work is translated takes on a meaning that is not only erudite and, probably, the date of the individual translations is significant: Ballino is closer to Erasmian positions, Ferentilli is more linked to the Church of Rome, Zini is more nuanced and probably changes his positions with the passing of years and events.