Cinzio Passeri Aldobrandini

Cinzio Passeri received not only his name but also his appointment as Cardinal from his uncle, Ippolito Aldobrandini, Pope Clement VIII. Together with his cousin Pietro Aldobrandini he was called to the upper ranks of papal power in spring 1592. During these months he recalled Tasso from Naples, “neither to serve nor be a courtier (which he well knew was unsuited to his inclination) but only to write poetry and philosophy” (translated from G. B. Manso, Vita di Torquato Tasso, edited by B. Basile, Rome, Salerno Editrice, 1993, 173). Upon his return to Rome, Tasso celebrated the Pope’s family with poems for Clement VIII and also for Cinzio and Pietro Aldobrandini, trying to maintain equal distance in the deep rivalry that had developed between the two cousins. Relevant in this connection is his choice to dedicate Conquistata to Cinzio, and Discorsi del poema eroico to Pietro, this latter work providing the theoretical basis for his new poetic work. Although probably aware that “Cinzio’s poor health would in the end be overcome by Pietro’s substantial vigor” (translated from Manso, Vita di Torquato Tasso, 177), Tasso was closer to Cinzio during his final years in Rome. It was Cinzio who had arranged for the crowning at the Campidoglio, and later Tasso’s funeral and burial at the Sant’Onofrio Church. Tasso’s precious manuscripts remained in Cinzio’s possession, including the Mondo creato written in Tasso’s own hand, but were lost in the decades after Cinzio’s death in 1610.