Additional information
by Pope Urban (Author), Pope Alexander (Author), Robert Nixon (Translator)
Urban VIII and Alexander VII each occupied the papal throne during the seventeenth century, and were munificent and discriminating patrons of the arts, as well as men of conspicuous erudition and imagination. They were also sensitive, inspired, and highly accomplished poets. The cultural milieu from which they sprang was a halcyon era in which literature and the arts flourished with all the apollonian refulgence of a splendid, and sometimes extravagant, opulence. The present work of adaptation, employing strictly the medium of English heroic verse, comprises a choice cornucopia of the lyrical musings of these two baroque pontiffs--compositions of orphic mellifluence and sidereal luster, which are both rare literary curiosities and ornately fashioned treasures of virtuosic neo-classical poesy. These adaptations attempt to lift the tenebrous veil of alterity and obscurity which has hitherto concealed these masterworks, diligently repolishing their aureate, marble, or onyx surfaces, and humbly offering their nacreous arabesques and argent-spangled trefoils to the discerning eye of the contemporary anglophone reader.
Author Biography
Robert Nixon is a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of the Most Holy Trinity, New Norcia, Western Australia, and a Catholic priest. His roles include director of the New Norcia Institute for Benedictine Studies, as well as dean and liturgy coordinator for the monastic community. He has contributed articles on medieval Latin poetry to the Revue bénédictine and the American Benedictine Review.
