La medicina della politica: note sulla scrittura aforistica di età barocca

This essay deals with a crucial topic of Late-Renaissance and Baroque political thought: the connection between political reflection and medical art. In particular, this article provides evidence of the relevance of the methodological contribution offered by Sansovino in developing a peculiar approach to politics. Sansovino marks the importance of founding political discourse on more practical concerns and highlights the usefulness of more accessible and effective forms of writing: inspired by Guicciardini, he proposes writing in aphorisms as a means of providing the reader with easy access to the prudential arts of politics. Therefore, the use of aphorisms (characteristic of medicine) becomes instrumental in a much more pragmatic discussion of the art of government. This is the case with two 17th-century authors who, plagiarizing Sansovino and Guicciardini, insisted on the practical skills of politicians versed in medical wisdom: Amidei and Raimondi.