IL CONTRIBUTO DI GEROLAMO ALLA FORMAZIONE DELL’IDEALE DELLA VITA SOLITARIA IN FRANCESCO PETRARCA

Abstract

It is a common opinion that Petrarch considered Augustine as an example and as a master for his spirituality and his theology. Yet his personal idea of culture and literature, where Christian religion and classical model were intermingled and equally necessary, was in search of an authority of a different kind. Such was St. Jerome, whose ascetical interests were exposed and recommended by an artistic and impressive style. What Petrarch found in Jerome was the accomplishment of the otium litteratum he had longed for during the whole of his life.