BOIARDO, MATTED MARIA, COUNT Italian poet, was born at Scandiano, one of the seignorial estates of his family, near Reggio Emilia, and was educated at the University of Ferrara. At the court of Ferrara he was entrusted with several honourable employments, and was named governor of Reggio, an appointment which he held in the year 1478. Three years after wards he was elected captain of Modena, and reappointed governor of the town and citadel of Reggio, where he died.
Almost all Boiardo's works, and especially his great poem of the Orlando Innamorato, were composed for the amusement of Duke Hercules d'Este and his court. The Orlando Innamorato is considered as one of the most important poems in Italian liter ature, since it served as a model for Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. The subject-matter of the poem is derived from the Fabulous Chronicle of the pseudo-Turpin ; though, with the exception of the names of Charlemagne, Roland, Oliver, and some other principal warriors, there is little resemblance between the detailed plot of the one and that of the other. The poem, which Boiardo did not live to finish, was printed at Scandiano the year after his death, but Niccolo degli Agostini, an indifferent poet, had the courage to continue the work commenced by Boiardo, adding to it three books, printed at Venice in 1 5 26-3 I .
Boiardo's poem suffers from the incurable defect of a laboured and heavy style. His story is skilfully constructed, the characters are well drawn and sustained throughout; many of the incidents show a power and fertility of imagination not inferior to that of Ariosto, but the perfect workmanship indispensable for a great work of art is wanting. The poem in its original shape was not popular, and has been completely superseded by the Ri f acimento of Francesco Berni (q.v.).
See Panizzi, Boiardo (183o-31) and E. W. Edwards, The Orlando Furioso and its Predecessor (1924) .