Pierre de Larivey
Encyclopedia
Pierre de Larivey was a French
dramatist of Italian
origin. He is credited with introducing the Italian "comedy of intrigue" into France.
and Venice
, is subject to caution.
Larivey's family was established at Troyes
in the Champagne
region. Pierre studied law in Paris
, and was in close contact with the milieu of the lawyers of Parlement
. He participated in a literary circle around Jean Voyer and frequented the jurist Gilles Bourdin (Larivey would write 2 sonnets to his memory) and met there the dramatists Guillaume Le Breton
and François d'Amboise
. He was friends with Gilles Corrozet.
In 1572, he accompanied François d'Amboise into Poland
, on a diplomatic mission and would return the year later for the crowning of the Duke of Anjou (future king Henry III
) elected King of Poland. In 1585, in Paris, he was accorded the benefice of the chapel of Saint-Léonard. After, he acted as clerk to the chapter of the church of St Etienne at Troyes
, and he eventually became a canon. The first volume of the Comedies facetieuses appeared in 1579, and the second in 1611. Only nine in all were printed.
dates from 1562—but Larivey naturalized the Italian comedy of intrigue in France. Despite closely following his Italian models, he succeeded in conveying a lively spoken language, often full of saucy humor. The licence of the manners depicted in these plays is matched by the coarseness of the expression. Larivey's merit lies in the use of popular language in dialogue, which often rises to real excellence, and was not without influence on Molière
and Regnard
. Molière's L'Avare (The Miser
) owes much to the scene in Larivey's masterpiece, Les Esprits, where Séverin laments the loss of his purse, and the opening scene of the play seems to have suggested Regnard's Retour imprévu. It is uncertain whether Larivey's plays were represented, though they were evidently written for the stage. In any case, prose comedy gained very little ground in popular favor before the time of Molière.
In 1579, at Paris (with the publisher Abel L'Angelier), he published six farcical comedies:
The scene of these comedies is Paris. In his author's epistle to this edition, he catalogues briefly the names of his Italian models.
In 1611, in Troyes (with the publisher Pierre Chevillot), he published his Three New Comedies (Trois Nouvelles Comédies). Their tone is different from the preceding. The plots center less around overcoming obstacles to love and the characters are already married. The "unity of action", one of the Three Unities, is better respected and Larivey brings fewer modifications to the Italian originals. In his epistle to the edition (dedicated to François d'Amboise
), Larivey explains how he came upon these comedies oneday while cleaning his study and decided to rework them in the French manner ( "me print envie d'agencer un peu de livres que j'ay en mon estude [...] je trouvay de fortune entre quelques brouillards et manuscripts six [...] comedies toutes chargées de poussières [...]. j'ay tasché de les r'habiller [...] à la façon de ce pays").
The plot of these stories takes place in Troyes.
Early in his career, Larivey worked as a translator of other Italian works, including the Facetious Nights (Facétieuses Nuits) of Straparole, the Philosophie fabuleuse (1577), the Philosophie (1581) of Piccolomini (Pope Pius II
), and The Discourses of Capelloni (1595). In 1604, he published a translation of Ilumaniti de Jesus-Christ by Pietro Aretino
.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
dramatist of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
origin. He is credited with introducing the Italian "comedy of intrigue" into France.
Life
Little is known of Larivey's biography. The suggestion made by Pierre Grosley of Troyes that Pietro Giunti, called "Larivey" (the name Larivey or l'Arrivey would have been taken by way of translation from giunto) was a member of the family of the Giunti, the famous printers of FlorenceFlorence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, is subject to caution.
Larivey's family was established at Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
in the Champagne
Champagne, France
Champagne is a historic province in the northeast of France, now best known for the sparkling white wine that bears its name.Formerly ruled by the counts of Champagne, its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris. The cities of Troyes, Reims, and Épernay are the commercial centers of the area...
region. Pierre studied law in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and was in close contact with the milieu of the lawyers of Parlement
Parlement
Parlements were regional legislative bodies in Ancien Régime France.The political institutions of the Parlement in Ancien Régime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and...
. He participated in a literary circle around Jean Voyer and frequented the jurist Gilles Bourdin (Larivey would write 2 sonnets to his memory) and met there the dramatists Guillaume Le Breton
Guillaume Le Breton
Guillaume Le Breton was a French dramatist of the sixteenth century. Little is known of his life, although the title of his play Adonis mentions he was from the Nièvre region...
and François d'Amboise
François d'Amboise
François d'Amboise was a French jurist and writer. He was counseller to the Parlement of Brittany and advocate general to the Grand Conseil.- Biography :...
. He was friends with Gilles Corrozet.
In 1572, he accompanied François d'Amboise into Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, on a diplomatic mission and would return the year later for the crowning of the Duke of Anjou (future king Henry III
Henry III of France
Henry III was King of France from 1574 to 1589. As Henry of Valois, he was the first elected monarch of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth with the dual titles of King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1573 to 1575.-Childhood:Henry was born at the Royal Château de Fontainebleau,...
) elected King of Poland. In 1585, in Paris, he was accorded the benefice of the chapel of Saint-Léonard. After, he acted as clerk to the chapter of the church of St Etienne at Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, and he eventually became a canon. The first volume of the Comedies facetieuses appeared in 1579, and the second in 1611. Only nine in all were printed.
Works
Larivey is the author of nine plot-centered "comedies of intrigue" in prose adapted (rather than "translated") from Italian originals. He has no claim to be the originator of French comedy—the Corrivaux of Jean de la TailleJean de La Taille
Jean de La Taille was a French poet and dramatist born in Bondaroy.He studied the humanities in Paris under Muretus, and law at Orléans under Anne de Bourg. He began his career as a Huguenot, but afterwards adopted a mild Catholicism...
dates from 1562—but Larivey naturalized the Italian comedy of intrigue in France. Despite closely following his Italian models, he succeeded in conveying a lively spoken language, often full of saucy humor. The licence of the manners depicted in these plays is matched by the coarseness of the expression. Larivey's merit lies in the use of popular language in dialogue, which often rises to real excellence, and was not without influence on Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
and Regnard
Jean-François Regnard
Jean-François Regnard , "the most distinguished, after Molière, of the comic poets of the seventeenth century", was a dramatist, born in Paris, who is equally famous now for the travel diary he kept of a voyage in 1681....
. Molière's L'Avare (The Miser
The Miser
L'Avare is a 1668 five-act satirical comedy by French playwright Molière. Its title is usually translated as The Miser when the play is performed in English....
) owes much to the scene in Larivey's masterpiece, Les Esprits, where Séverin laments the loss of his purse, and the opening scene of the play seems to have suggested Regnard's Retour imprévu. It is uncertain whether Larivey's plays were represented, though they were evidently written for the stage. In any case, prose comedy gained very little ground in popular favor before the time of Molière.
In 1579, at Paris (with the publisher Abel L'Angelier), he published six farcical comedies:
- Le Laquais, a version of Ludovico Dolce's Il Ragazzo - Larivey introduces the character of the pedant.
- La Veuve, a version of Niccolò Buonaparte's La Vedova
- Les Esprits, a version of Lorenzino de' MediciLorenzino de' MediciLorenzino de' Medici , sometimes called Lorenzaccio de' Medici, was an Italian writer remembered primarily as the assassin of Alessandro de' Medici, duke and ruler of Florence.-Biography:...
's L'Aridosia - Le Morfondu, a version of Antonio Francesco GrazziniAntonio Francesco GrazziniAntonio Francesco Grazzini was an Italian author.-Biography:He was born at Florence of a good family, but there is no record of his upbringing and education. He probably began to practise as an apothecary as a youth...
's La Gelosia - Le Jaloux, a version of Vincenzo Gabbiani's I Gelosi
- Les Escholiers, a version of Girolano Razzi's La Cecca
The scene of these comedies is Paris. In his author's epistle to this edition, he catalogues briefly the names of his Italian models.
In 1611, in Troyes (with the publisher Pierre Chevillot), he published his Three New Comedies (Trois Nouvelles Comédies). Their tone is different from the preceding. The plots center less around overcoming obstacles to love and the characters are already married. The "unity of action", one of the Three Unities, is better respected and Larivey brings fewer modifications to the Italian originals. In his epistle to the edition (dedicated to François d'Amboise
François d'Amboise
François d'Amboise was a French jurist and writer. He was counseller to the Parlement of Brittany and advocate general to the Grand Conseil.- Biography :...
), Larivey explains how he came upon these comedies oneday while cleaning his study and decided to rework them in the French manner ( "me print envie d'agencer un peu de livres que j'ay en mon estude [...] je trouvay de fortune entre quelques brouillards et manuscripts six [...] comedies toutes chargées de poussières [...]. j'ay tasché de les r'habiller [...] à la façon de ce pays").
- La Constance, a version of Girolamo Razzi's La Gostanza
- Le Fidelle, a version of Luigi Pasqualigo's Il Fedele
- Les Tromperies, a version of Nicolὸ Secchi's Gl'Inganni
The plot of these stories takes place in Troyes.
Early in his career, Larivey worked as a translator of other Italian works, including the Facetious Nights (Facétieuses Nuits) of Straparole, the Philosophie fabuleuse (1577), the Philosophie (1581) of Piccolomini (Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II, born Enea Silvio Piccolomini was Pope from August 19, 1458 until his death in 1464. Pius II was born at Corsignano in the Sienese territory of a noble but decayed family...
), and The Discourses of Capelloni (1595). In 1604, he published a translation of Ilumaniti de Jesus-Christ by Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino
Pietro Aretino was an Italian author, playwright, poet and satirist who wielded immense influence on contemporary art and politics and invented modern literate pornography.- Life :...
.