Lapo Gianni was a lyric poet and, with his betterknown friends DANTE and Guido CAVALCANTI, one
of the stilnovisti, the Florentine poets of the DOLCE
STIL NOVO, or “sweet new style,” that revolutionized
Italian vernacular poetry in the late 13th century.
Though it is not absolutely certain, it is assumed
that Lapo the poet was the notary of the same
name, who was a member of the Ricevuti family of
Florence, and whose name appears on official acts
between 1298 and 1328. Dante mentions him as a
friend in his sonnet “Guido, I’ vorrei che tu e Lapo ed
io,” and Cavalcanti refers to him as well. Dante also
praises Lapo in De VULGARI ELOQUENTIA as one of
the few contemporary poets who have achieved
eloquence in the Italian vernacular (the others
being, not surprisingly, Cavalcanti and himself).
Lapo’s poetry abounds in imagery familiar to
the stilnovisti. The lady is like an angel from
heaven. The lover possesses a “gentle heart.” Lapo’s
imagery is often derived from new and unconventional sources: In one poem he is drawn toward his
lady by love, just as the Magi were drawn to Christ
by the star. In another the “spirits” of late medieval
psychology explain how Love suddenly takes him:
In your face, like an angel’s full of love,
I saw your beautiful eyes and the dark light
that bore like an arrow
through my eyes a tender spirit,
(Goldin 1973, 339, ll. 1–4)
At the same time, however, Lapo seems to take a
great deal from the Provençal TROUBADOURS and
their successors in the earlier Italian Sicilian school
of GIACOMO DA LENTINO: Lapo’s poems have a
lighter and more joyous tone than much stilnovist
poetry. The ending of his poem “Dolc’è ’l pensier
che mi notrica il core,” for example, uses feudal
terms and images more at home in the courts of
southern France than the cities of Tuscan Italy:
How I am inscribed in the book of Love
you shall recount, my song, in courtesy,
when you see my lady:
for I have become her man, and serve.
(Goldin 1973, 341, ll. 25–29)
The direct address to the song, the virtue of “courtesy,” the vassalage to the lady, all are pure troubadour. Lapo is a skilled poet who is able to combine
both traditions in his poetry. Though he lacks the
lofty reputation of his greater contemporaries,
Lapo’s contribution to Italian poetry of the 13th
century is significant.
Bibliography
Goldin, Frederick, trans. German and Italian Lyrics of
the Middle Ages: An Anthology and a History. New
York: Doubleday, 1973.