364 Italian Bookshelf - Ibiblio

“Italian Bookshelf” Annali d’ italianistica 24 (2006) 383
roles. This is because in Yates’s narrative there is “a modernist-progressivist bias,” which
focuses on those figures engaged in “social and scientific progress” (6). On the other
hand, Lazzarelli is anything but “a hermetic prophet of modern and scientific progress”
(6). From this point of view, Lazzarelli must have been “too small fry” for Yates’s grand
narrative, lacking the intellectual “stature and fame of figures such as Ficino, Pico, and
Bruno” (6). Hanegraaff’s solution to this problem is “complexity and contextuality”
(104), a notion, however, that is not clearly defined by Hanegraaff. The reader is thus left
having to infer Hanegraaff’s intended meaning.
The first section continues with a “chronological overview of [...] Lazzarelli’s life,
career, and religious development” (8). Hanegraaff charts “Lazzarelli’s Early Years,” his
“Poetic Maturity,” and an important trip to Rome, where he met his mentor, Giovanni
“Mercurio” da Correggio. Born in 1447 in the region of Marche, and author of Epistola
Enoch, Crater Hermetis, Fasti christianae religionis, and De gentilorum deorum
imaginibus among other works, Lazzarelli has a firm foot set in late 15 th -century literary
history. Following the work of Marsilio Ficino, Lazzarelli translated the sixteenth
through eighteenth tractates of the Corpus hermeticum (4). His role is therefore important
to the study of Renaissance hermetism.
Although the book’s title focuses on Lazzarelli, this work also explores figures
inseparably linked to Lazzarelli, notably his mentor. In “The Prophet Correggio” (22-44),
Hanegraaff explores Lazzarelli’s relationship with Correggio, whom, it is believed,
Lazzarelli first met in 1481. This encounter profoundly influenced Lazzarelli and
prompted his “conversion from profane poetry to Christian hermetism” (22). In a note to
Correggio, Lazzarelli described his conversion as a move from Helicon to Mount Zion,
or, as Hanegraaff explains, a “conversion [...] from the pursuit of worldly fame as a poet
to the pursuit of divine wisdom as revealed in the sacred scriptures” (45-46). Correggio
became, in effect, Lazzarelli’s “hermetic Christ” (44).
Hanegraaff then turns his attention toward textual analysis (57-96), focusing
primarily on Lazzarelli’s decisively hermetic work, Crater Hermetis. Hanegraaff cites
passages and draws intertextual links with the Corpus hermeticum, providing solid
evidence for the Crater Hermetis’s hermetic foundation. Moreover, the author
consistently addresses pertinent criticism. As Hanegraaff notes, the title, Crater Hermetis,
makes “clear reference to Corpus hermeticum IV: ‘A Discourse of Hermes to Tat: The
Mixing-Bowl or the Monad.’” Furthermore, “the entire work is permeated by quotations
from the hermetic writings” (57). Hanegraaff provides an outline of the Crater Hermetis
and underlines what is perhaps the most significant quality of the text: Lazzarelli opened
his work by equating the prominent hermetic figure Poimandres with Jesus Christ, stating
in fact that he believed them one and the same (61). The author also explores Jewish
influences on Lazzarelli, notes distinct biblical references in the text, and evaluates the
Crater Hermetis’s reception following its publication in the early 16 th century.
The second half of the book, “Ludovico Lazzarelli: The Hermetic Writings” and
“Related Writings,” deserves commendation. The translations are accessible, lined with
ample notes, and, most importantly, accurate. The first work translated is Lazzarelli’s
Epistola Enoch, followed by “Three Prefaces Addressed to Giovanni ‘Mercurio’ da
Correggio,” the Crater Hermetis, and Lazzarelli’s “Alchemical Writings” (all Latin and
English). The last four translations of “Related Documents” are: “The Life of Ludovico
Lazzarelli” by Filippo Lazzarelli (Latin/English); “Sonetto” (Italian/English) and
“Oratio” (Latin/English), both by Correggio; and last, “About Giovanni ‘Mercurio’ da