The thesis intends to supplement the information found in D.Santoroi s Della Vita e delle opere di Mario Equicola (Chieti 1906). Further, it intends to offer a different angle of approach from that provided by Santoro who is over-zealous in his apology of a fellow southerner. The early work suffers from two major defects. The first lies in the fact that Santoro was unable to visit Mantua where a large number of relevant documents are to be found. Secondly, Santoro makes a strict division between life and works in his biography; it is the contention of the present writer that Equicola's works were written in response to the situation in which he found himself at court. The thesis traces the career of this humanist courtier from his obscure beginnings in Alvito where he was born, probably in 1470, until his death at Mantua in 1525. Hardly any of his life was spent in his native region because of the political climate. Indeed, he spent about ten years in Rome which left an indelible mark on the work he produced later in his life. 1494 saw him back in the Regno fighting on the French side with, his patrons, the Cantelmo family. Defeat forced the family (including Equicola) to move to Ferrara. Here, in a northern Italian court he applied his humanist learning to questions of interest to the court, such as the position of women. In 1508 he transferred to Mantua as Isabella d'Este's tutor, a unique post, created by the 'Marchesana' to enhance her reputation for learning. During this period Equicola was also used as a diplomat by Isabella to further her own political ends. The public, administrative side becomes predominant in his last years after his appointment as secretary to Isabella d'Este (1519), then to her son, Federico Gonzaga.

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Dans notre thèse de doctorat, nous nous sommes occupée des interprétations visuelles et morales du Roland furieux au XVIe siècle, en prenant en considération les nombreuses éditions de l’époque, dont le riche paratexte (images, allégories, arguments) a eu un impact considérable sur leur réception « moralisée » et sur la circulation de l’ouvrage. En analysant l’interaction des éléments paratextuels, nous nous sommes concentrée principalement sur le concept de « vice peint », c’est à dire d’images des nains, de géants et d’animaux chargés d’un rôle moral important et ayant un fort impact visuel.Les éditeurs ont, en effet, consacré une attention particulière aux éléments paratextuels qui contribuent à faire du Roland furieux un ouvrage exemplaire du point de vue de la langue, du style, de la rhétorique et de l’éthique, en favorisant la canonisation du poème. Cette canonisation est par ailleurs passée par l’un des débats les plus acharnés de l’histoire littéraire italienne dans la seconde moitié du XVIe siècle. C’est par une nouvelle analyse des principaux traités de poétique et rhétorique du XVIe siècle que nous avons pu constater que les tenants de ce débat, les « classicistes » et les « modernistes », ont mis au cœur de leur diatribe la capacité de l’Arioste de rendre sous forme visuelle un concept, tout en associant cette puissance visuelle de l’écriture de l’auteur au discours moral du poème et à sa capacité de « delectare » pour pouvoir mieux « docere ». Ces résultats ont été également confirmés par deux lectures importantes du Roland furieux, faites par Campanella et Montaigne, qui nous offrent leur interprétation à la fois « visuelle » et « morale ».Nous avons aussi vérifié l'influence des éditions italiennes sur d’autres éditions réalisées au-delà des frontières de la péninsule. En suivant les étapes de la circulation du Roland furieux en France, en langue italienne, mais aussi en langue étrangère, nous avons pu trouver une confirmation de l’importance de facteurs paratextuels sur la diffusion et la réception de l’œuvre. En partant d’une approche textuelle (les éditions) et formelle (le paratexte) et en passant par une étude interprétative (l’analyse de la valeur « visuelle » et « morale » des éléments paratextuels), nous avons ainsi abouti à la constatation que, par le biais des éditions successives, le Roland furieux devient peu à peu un récipient de préceptes moraux et de fragments iconiques, fait de matériaux de récupération lui donnant une nouvelle cohérence tant au niveau rhétorique qu’artistique et éthique / In this doctoral thesis, consideration is given to Orlando Furioso and his visual and moral interpretations of the 16th century by examining the many editions of the period, whose rich paratext, images, allegorie, argomenti, has had a great impact on their ‘moralised’ reception et on the circulation of the work.By analysing the interaction of the paratextual elements, attention has been given to the concept of ‘depicted vice’, that is to say images of dwarfs, giants and animals charged with an important moral role and having a strong visual impact. Indeed, the editors have given special attention to all the paratextual elements qui make Orlando Furioso an exemplary work from the perspective of its language, style, rhetoric and ethics and these have contributed to the canonisation of the poem.Moreover, this canonisation went through one of the fiercest debates in Italian literary history in the second half of the 16th century. Through a new analysis of the principal treatises of the 16th century on poetry and rhetoric, it was possible to see that those involved in this debate, the ‘classicists’ and the ‘modernists’, have put at the heart of their diatribe Ariosto’s ability to bring a concept into a visual form, whilst at the same time associating this visual power of author’s writings with the moral discussion of the poem and its ability to ‘delectare’ in order to ‘docere’ better.These results have also been confirmed by two of the most important interpretations of Orlando Furioso by Campanella and Montaigne, whose interpretations are both ‘visual’ and ‘moral’.The influence of the Italian editions on other editions published beyond the peninsula’s border has also been verified. By following the phases in the circulation of the Italian version of Orlando Furioso in France, but also in a foreign language, it has been possible to confirm the importance of paratextual factors on the circulation and the reception of the work. Starting from a textual (the editions) and formal (the paratext) approach and moving through an interpretative study (the analysis of the "visual" and "moral" value of the paratextual elements), it is concluded that, through successive editions, Orlando Furioso gradually becomes a repository of moral guidance and iconic fragments – raw materials, giving it a new coherence in rhetoric, art and ethics.