Boundless Boiardo. The Sources of 'Meraviglia' from the Renaissance to the Classics

Although Giovan Battista Giraldi Cinthio praised Boiardo for his invention, few Renaissance discussions of what was referred to as the ‘marvelous' refer to Boiardo. Nonetheless, three categories of the marvelous can be found: Renaissance critics talk about the marvelous either as the effect of certain patterns of diction, or in contrast to the credible, or as the product of unheard, new, and unexpected actions. Boiardo, whose favorite word is smisurato, takes the cake in the third category.