Overview

The Christiad (1535) is a Neo-Latin epic by the Italian Renaissance writer Girolamo Vida, based on the Gospels and written at the behest of Pope Leo X. Long seen as a Christian Aeneid, it emerges in this study as a far more complex work, demonstrating that while Virgil remains the main model, Vida also engages deeply with Lucretius, Ovid, Lucan, Silius Italicus, and Statius. By examining Vida’s imitative techniques and integration of multiple epic models, this monograph reassesses the Christiad’s relationship with the ancient Latin epic tradition. In doing so, it sheds new light on the afterlife of these classical poems as print made them more widely available.

Full Product Details

Author:   Stefano Cianciosi
Publisher:   Brill
Imprint:   Brill
Volume:   28
Dimensions:   Width: 15.50cm , Height: 2.10cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.557kg
ISBN:  

9789004738669

ISBN 10:   9004738665
Pages:   260
Publication Date:   25 September 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

List of Figures   Introduction  1 Vida’s Imitative Technique in the Christiad  1.1 Vida’s De Arte Poetica: a Partial Precedent for the Christiad  1.2 Modes of Imitation in the Christiad  1.3 The Architecture of the Christiad and Its Connections to the Epic Tradition  1.4 Totality and Contingency 2 The Presence of Lucretius  2.1 Lucretian Natural Imagery  2.2 The Formation, History and End of the World  2.3 Theological Swerve  2.4 The Master  2.5 Spirit and Matter 3 The Virgilian Epic Model  3.1 Jesus: God, Man, Hero and Sacrificial Victim  3.2 Heaven and the Divine Image of the Father  3.3 Hell and Junonian Satan  3.4 Cultural Juxtapositions in the Aeneid and the Christiad  3.5 The Trojan Adventures of the Holy Family  3.6 Virgilian Marvels in a Christian World  4 Vida’s Appropriation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses  4.1 Ovidian Changes and Christian Miracles  4.2 Vidian and Ovidian Characters  4.3 The Christiad and Ovid’s “Little Aeneid”  4.4 De-relativising Epic  5 The Christiad and Post-Virgilian Epics from Lucan to Sedulius  5.1 The Opposition to Lucan’s Godless World  5.2 Christianised Silian Heroes and Games  5.3 Statian Fratricidal Warfare and Lamentations  5.4 Vida’s Late Antique Precedents   Epilogue Bibliography Index

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Author Information

Stefano Cianciosi, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in Latin at Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. He has published mainly on ancient Latin epics and their reception in Renaissance Neo-Latin literature.

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