Petrarch’s songbook form as an archetype

Abstract

This article reverts to the ecdotic concept of the archetype and explores its application to the ordering of Petrarch’s songbook form. Following a reflection on the concept of archetype, our focus shifts to some particularly significant moments of a historically structured path. To this effect, we will consider the following: Luigi Marsili’s commentary, the first Canzionere prints, the 1501 Aldine edition, and Francesco Vellutello’s commentary. The impact of the Vat. Lat. 3195 manuscript’s rediscovery in the Vatican Library in 1886, the codex in which Francesco Petrarch worked in the last years of his life, is then highlighted. Taking into account more recent research on how the ordering of the Canzionere would be conceived by the poet, we draw conclusions regarding the temporality of the archetype concept in its application to Petrarch’s songbook form.