ABSTRACT
Luigi Pulci is the most celebrated of the brothers. It was at the instigation of Lucrezia Tornabuoni, / mother of Lorenzo de’ Medici, who has been before mentioned for her talents and love of literature, that he wrote the “Morgante Maggiore;” and Bernardo Tasso, father of the great poet, relates that he read the cantos, as they were written, at the table of Lorenzo. The great beauty of the Morgante, besides scenes and passages of pathos and beauty, is derived from the simple, magnanimous, and tender character of Orlando. Charlemagne is a doting old man, Gano a traitor, Rinaldo a violent and headstrong warrior or robber, Astolfo vainglorious, but all are selfish and erring, except the single-minded and generous conte di Brava. Rinaldo, at the moment that the slaughter of Roncesvalles was preparing, was far away in Asia.
