The Biblioteca Ambrosiana was founded by Cardinal Federico Borromeo (1564–1631) and it was the first to be opened to the public in Italy in 1609. If the Pinacoteca is famous worldwide for the Codex Atlanticus by Leonardo, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana has a noteworthy collection of Arabian, Syrian, and Greek books with original writings by Aquinas, Ariosto, Machiavelli, and others. To celebrate the 700th anniversary of Boccaccio’s birth, the Biblioteca Ambrosiana organized in 2012 an exhibition of the manuscripts belonging to Boccaccio preserved in its collection, as well as codices annotated by Boccaccio, such as Martial’s Epigrams and Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. In addition, it was decided to publish a volume dedicated to Boccaccio and his relationship with classical writers and the Bible. The volume contains nine essays, each of them characterized by comprehensive archival research.

In his essay “Boccaccio, La Bibbia e San Girolamo,” Carlo Delcorno analyzes the allegorical use of the Bible adopted in some works, such as Allegoria mythologica, Filocolo, and Comedia delle ninfe; in Filocolo, in particular, the whole story from the Creation to the advent of the Holy Spirit is presented in two chapters in book 5. The prologue to Chronicon by Eusebio, translated by Saint Jerome, was the basis and the auctoritas that Boccaccio admired and quoted. L’Allegoria Mitologica is carefully treated by Claude Cazalé Bérard as regards the several interpretations of the book. Considering Jonathan Usher’s study on the myth of Fetonte, Cazalé Bérard proposes the figure of a young Boccaccio who, led by a deceptive hubris, tried to reach fame and honor but ended achieving awareness of his own inadequacies.

Gyorgy Domokos focuses on the presence of the Bible in the works written by Boccaccio in his Neapolitan period. Since these books were produced for pleasure, the theological and philological aspects of the biblical quotations were largely neglected. Boccaccio mixed the biblical events with references to gods and myths from Greek and Latin tradition. Lucia Battaglia Ricci illustrates how Boccaccio’s Amorosa Visione may be considered a parody of Dante’s Commedia; this work is the expression of Boccaccio’s personal interpretation and rejection of the theological and prophetic model proposed by Dante. At the same time, the reflection on poetry and morality sees in Boccaccio the defender of the poets, basing his theory on Saint Paul’s assertion according to which the knowledge of evil does not entail any acquaintance with it.

What Boccaccio borrowed from the Bible and used in his Rime is explored by Daniele Piccini. Once again, the Bible appears to be a collection of stories and linguistic loans that Boccaccio put side by side with literary characters and pagan myths. Marco Ballarini’s essay draws attention to the biblical references in De Casibus and De Mulieribus Claris. Bitterly disappointed with the evil-minded politicians of his time, Boccaccio decided to show how God’s hand had acted against the powerful rulers of ancient civilizations so that the modern princes could understand and learn from their misadventures. The two fundamental quotations “Regnum meum non est de hoc mundo” and “Deposuit potentes de sede et exaltavit humiles” are applied to explain different examples taken from De Casibus.

The wealth of data and citations presented by Ermanno Paccagnini makes his essay on Corbaccio the longest contribution. Among the classical writers, authors such as Martial and Apuleius are unexpected, but he is also able to detect quotations from some texts by San Francesco. Marco Petoletti advances the scholarship by examining Boccaccio’s work as a reader. Whereas Petrarch carefully annotated his copies with marginalia, remarks, and references to other auctoritates, Boccaccio limited his intervention to maniculae or parentheses to highlight the passages he liked the most. Two original manuscripts appear to be of interest to the readers: the Terenzio Laurenziano 38.17 with the famous comment “Hinc Paulus,” and the Marziale Ambrosiana C67 sup., on which Boccaccio wrote about his idea of two different Senecas, the philosopher and the tragedian. Given the amount of Latin quotations and the depth of knowledge of the contributions, this is a book for the serious Boccaccio scholar, providing students and intellectuals with nine valuable, instructive essays.