(ANSA) - The Tuscan home of Giovanni Boccaccio, the 14th-century Italian poet who wrote the famously ribald Decameron stories, is to undergo long-awaited restoration work.
The house, where Boccaccio died in 1375 at the age of 62, needs roof repairs, new plumbing and wiring, and structural work on the staircase which leads up its adjacent tower.
The work, which is expected to cost some 250,000 euros, should have started years ago, according to critics of the board which runs the house and the small Boccaccio museum it contains.
"The board's management of the building has been foolish to say the least," said Massimo Tosi of the Bell'Italia association, which campaigns for better upkeep of Italy's national heritage. The board's head, Massimo Gennari, denies the charge.
"There has been no delay," he said. "It's taken a long time because we had to wait for authorisations from the local government, which owns the house." Boccaccio's fame draws about 20,000 tourists to his house in Certaldo near Florence every year. As well as the museum, the building also houses a library containing rare manuscripts and books.
The house will close on September 12 for the restoration work, which is expected to be completed by June next year. Boccaccio was the third of three great writers who appeared on the Italian scene during the late 13th and early 14th century and carried Italian literature to unprecedented
heights. The other two were Dante and Petrarch.
Boccaccio, the illegitimate son of a Tuscan banker, had an unhappy childhood and dreamed of becoming one of the world's greatest poets. He studied as a lawyer but never practised and spent
much of his life trying to scrape together a living while finding time to write.
He wrote several works praised by scholars but by far his most famous was the Decameron - a lively collection of stories in which sexual adventures and misadventures were a frequent theme.
The stories later provided raw material for great European writers such as Shakespeare, Goethe and Moliere. The late Italian film director Pier Paolo Pasolini made a famous film version of the Decameron which capitalised on the 'sexy romp' element of the original.
According to scholars, Boccaccio's characters are unusual depictions for the era because they are believable, spirited and clever individuals who are grounded in reality. They contrasted sharply with those of his contemporaries, who were more concerned with the Medieval virtues of chivalry, piety and humility.
