Sobre la composición del Canzoniere (codice Vat. lat. 3195): sistema de peticiones, macrosecuencias y sesquitertia ratio

Abstract

The present paper comments the structure of Canzoniere’s system of petitions, sketched in a previous paper in 2004 (CuFI 11). It reveals the numerical composition of Francesco’s riscatto and mutatio. The programmatical search for Piety, with its careful reference to Redemption and Providence, already pointed out in sonetti I, III and IV, is interpreted here as a personal motto with autonominatio (I, v. 8). The dominant Christian dimension of Petrarch’s book is stablished ab initio from the first page of the ms. Vat. lat. 3195. In terms of composition, it gives rise to a cyphered pattern (modulus) integrating Augustine’s number 17 and the Gospel´s redemptive 153. A study of the ratio sesquitertia in the unitary and proportional composition of the Rerum vulgarium fragmenta allows us to establish, on the basis of authorial codex, the existence of a clear-cut project well before transcription. The codex’s page format, the sum total of its 72 numbered sheets and its 137 pages, or the position of prominent fragmenta and specific textual groupings, all lead to relevant observations about compositional structure and particular texts, consonant with Vitruvius’, Augustine’s and Boethius’ theses, later supported in some cases by the commentaries and imitations of the Cinquecento.