Abstract

This article examines Leon Battista Alberti’s 'Porcaria coniuratio', the historical epistle on Stefano Porcari’s conspiracy against Nicholas V, which was discovered by the pope before the conspirators could carry out the plot, in January 1453. This text is the only proper historiographical work written by Alberti and it allows us to explore his idea of history and historical writing, in a period when the humanist debate on the ars historica was becoming extremely lively. The investigation of the text, which is carried out from different perspectives, shows that Alberti’s lucid representation of the events is combined with sharp political criticism. This critical standpoint is often conveyed, on the one hand, through the adoption of a sarcastic and ironic tone, on the other, through the complex stylistic and rhetorical construction of the whole text. The analysis of these elements reveals more clearly some important overtones of Alberti’s uneasy political thought. The targets of the humanist’s bitter political reflection are mainly the conspirators, but also, more implicitly, the Curia. This critical perspective is framed through the sophisticated employment of specific classical references, some of them significantly drawn from satirical sources and combined with the predominant model of Sallust, which is always re-elaborated by the author in a personal way.