Lives of the Milanese Tyrants. Pier Candido Decembrio. Ed. Massimo Zaggia. Trans. Gary Ianziti. The I Tatti Renaissance Library 88. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2019. liv + 340 pp. $29.95.
Both authors emphasize the importance of laus, or praise, in Valla’s Sermo, seeing his effort to inspire wonder at the operation of the sacrament as exemplifying his general approach to difficult and potentially divisive theological questions. And while neither essay offers an entirely fresh perspective on Valla’s thought, the specific focus on the Sermo is helpful. The same is true of Marsico’s chapter summarizing earlier scholarly discussions of the work. In a volume so large that the primary text itself can seem like an afterthought, it may almost escape notice that Marsico has translated the Sermo itself. Rather than sitting conveniently across from the Latin, the Italian rendering of Valla’s oration is wedged into the midst of Marsico’s opening essay, but it is still extremely helpful. Marsico emphasizes the essence of Valla’s meaning, untangling and simplifying a few overextended sentences, and she does not hesitate to make bold choices—e.g., supplying mistero for res, when the context demands it. For the reader less interested in the reconstruction of the text or its reproduction across the centuries than in its actual meaning, this short, effective translation may be the single most valuable part of the volume, other than Valla’s speech itself.