Petrarca, Boccaccio e le monete delle mulieres antiquae (nota su una postilla petrarchesca del Par. lat. 5816, f. 8v e su De mulieribus claris XCVIII)

Petrarch, Boccaccio and the coins of mulieres antiquae (a note on a gloss by Petrarch in Par. Lat. 5816, f. 8v, and on De mulieribus claris xcviii) · The essay analyses the presence and the historical and literary function of Roman empresses’ ancient coins in Petrarch’s and Boccaccio’s works, focusing on some annotations by Petrarch in his manuscript copy of the Historia Augusta (BnF, lat. 5816), and on some chapters of the De mulieribus claris by Boccaccio. Petrarch’s “numismatic awareness” is then compared with that shown by Giovanni de’ Matociis, who was mansionary of Verona’s cathedral, in his Historie imperiales. Finally, some reflections and clarifications are presented concerning the use of the Historia Augusta as a source in Boccaccio’s De mulieribus.