La poesia greca alla corte dei duchi di Urbino I codici di Aristofane

This dissertation investigates the Aristophanes’ manuscripts that once belonged to the renowned library of Federico da Montefeltro, later incorporated, from 1657 onward, into the Urbinates collection of the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana. By combining historical, cultural, and philological approaches, the study explores both the intellectual context in which the library was conceived and the textual and material significance of three Aristophanic codices: Urbinates Graeci 141 and 143, and Ravennas 429. The first part reconstructs the history of the library through a critical reading of contemporary and early modern testimonies – including chronicles, letters, encomia, and literary texts – produced between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. The analysis of these sources reveals that the library functioned not only as a prestigious repository of knowledge but also as a deliberate expression of Federico da Montefeltro’s cultural self-representation. Inventory records are then examined to trace the main phases of the library’s development, highlighting how its most significant acquisitions were part of a coherent and purposeful program under Federico’s rule. A section on the Greek collection follows. By systematically analyzing bibliographic, archival, and inventory sources, the study reconstructs the provenance of individual manuscripts and sheds light on the networks of acquisition, exchange, and patronage that sustained this humanist initiative. Within this wider framework, particular attention is given to fourteen Greek poetic manuscripts, with special emphasis on the Aristophanic corpus. The three codices mentioned above are explored in detail through an analysis of their internal and external features, codicological and palaeographical characteristics, historical trajectories, and their role in the transmission of Aristophanes’ comedies. The results of this investigation challenge a persistent historiographical commonplace: that the manuscripts of the Urbino library are valued primarily for their aesthetic beauty rather than their philological worth. While fully recognising their exceptional aesthetic refinement, this study demonstrates that the Aristophanic manuscripts – two of them in particular – are fundamental for the constitutio textus of the comedies. The dissertation concludes by reflecting on the current state of research concerning the enhancement of cultural heritage of Federico da Montefeltro, and by outlining future perspectives for the study and the valorization of the Federician heritage.