MomusMomus is the most ambitious literary creation of Leon Battista Alberti, the famous humanist-scientist-artist and "universal man" of the Italian Renaissance. In this dark comedy, written around 1450, Alberti charts the lively fortunes of his anti-hero Momus, the unscrupulous and vitriolic god of criticism. Alberti deploys his singular erudition and wit to satirize subjects from court life and politics to philosophy and intellectuals, from grand architectural designs to human and divine folly. The possible contemporary resonance of Alberti's satire--read variously as a humanist roman-à-clef and as a veiled mockery of the mid-Quattrocento papacy--is among its most intriguing aspects. While his more famous books on architecture, painting, and family life have long been regarded as indispensable to a study of Renaissance culture, Momus has recently attracted increasing attention from scholars as a work anticipating the realism of Machiavelli and the satiric wit of Erasmus. This edition provides a new Latin text, the first to be based on the two earliest manuscripts, both corrected by Alberti himself, and includes the first full translation into English. |
Contents
Preface | 2 |
Book I | 13 |
Book II | 92 |
Book III | 198 |
Book IV | 274 |
Note on the Text | 357 |
Notes to the Translation | 381 |
Bibliography | 399 |
Common terms and phrases
added by Alberti added suprascript adeo adesse alii animi animo Apollo apud mortales atque caelo causa Charon Consolo corrected in F corrected suprascript Democritus demum deorum deos dicere dictis diis Diogenes Laertius divine enim erat Ergo erit esset etiam fortassis Gelastus goddess gods gratia haec heaven Hercules hinc homines hominum human hunc idcirco illa illi illic illud inquit inter Iovem Iovis ipse ipsum irarum Itaque Iuppiter Juno Jupiter Jupiter's Leon Battista Alberti Martini maximis modum Momi Momo Momum Momus mortalium multa Namque neque nihil numquam nunc Oenops omitted in F omnes omni omnia omnium outer margin philosophers posse prae praeter quae quam quibus quid quidem quin quis quoad quod rebus rerum satis sese sibi sint Socrates sunt superos tamen tametsi tantis things tibi ultro vero Verum videri vultu