ABSTRACT
Luca Marenzio, who in our time enjoyed great fame among musicians, composed many pieces that were indecent and unbefitting a Christian. In 1599, when Marenzio died, he was a young man of 22 years old. Whether true or imaginary, Marenzio's repentance gives us occasion to reflect on the profound cultural transformation that occurred in Rome at the end of the sixteenth century. When Marenzio returned to Italy from Poland, presumably in 1598, he found a political and cultural situation somewhat altered from previous years. The author draws attention to unknown testimony from 1596 depicting Marenzio engaged in the performance of sacred music in Warsaw. From an early history of the dukedom of Guastalla we learn that this patron was a music lover who accompanied a group of singers on the harpsichord. Duke Alfonso II d'Este had died without an heir on 27 October 1597; with him the dukedom of Ferrara, an irreplaceable beacon of musical culture, also disappeared.
