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Ariosto, woodcut after a drawing by Titian from the third edition of Orlando … (credit: Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.)

(born Sept. 8, 1474, Reggio Emilia, duchy of Modena [Italy] — died July 6, 1533, Ferrara) Italian poet. His epic poem Orlando Furioso (1516) is regarded as the finest literary expression of the Italian Renaissance. It enjoyed immediate popularity throughout Europe and was highly influential. He also wrote five comedies based on Latin classics but inspired by contemporary life; though minor in themselves, they are among the first of the imitations of Latin comedy in the vernacular that would long characterize European comedy. He also composed seven satires (1517 – 25) modeled after those of Horace .

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