Cinthio was born in
Ferrara, then the capital of the
Duchy of Ferrara. He was educated at the
University of Ferrara, and he became a professor of
natural philosophy in 1525. Twelve years later, he succeeded
Celio Calcagnini in the chair of
belles-lettres. Between 1542 and 1560, he was a private secretary, first to
Ercole II and afterwards to
Alfonso II d'Este; but having, in connection with a literary quarrel, lost the favour of his patron, he moved to
Mondovì, where he remained as a teacher of literature until 1568. Subsequently, on the invitation of the
Senate of Milan, he occupied the chair of
rhetoric at
Pavia until 1573, when, in search of health, he returned to Ferrara, where he later died. Besides an
epic entitled
Ercole (1557), in twenty-six
cantos, Cinthio wrote nine
tragedies, the best known of which,
Orbecche, was produced in 1541. The bloodthirsty nature of the play, and its style, are, in the opinion of many of its critics, almost redeemed by occasional bursts of genuine and impassioned poetry. His literary work was ideologically influenced by the
Catholic Reformation. In the theatrical works there appears a vein of experimentation that anticipates some typical elements of taste of the modern European theatre, for example the
Elizabethan theatre and
baroque styles, where psychological violence and horror are used in function and dramatic action structured in real time. Among the prose works of Cinthio is the
Hecatommithi or
Gli Ecatommiti, a collection of tales told somewhat after the manner of
Boccaccio, but still more closely resembling the novels of Cinthio's contemporary,
Matteo Bandello. Something may be said in favour of their professed claim to represent a higher standard of morality. Originally published at
Mondovì in 1565, they were frequently reprinted in Italy, while a French translation appeared in 1583 and one in Spanish, with 20 of the stories, in 1590. They have a peculiar interest to students of
English literature, for providing the plots of
Measure for Measure and
Othello. That of the latter, which is to be found in the
Hecatommithi, was almost certainly read by
Shakespeare in the original Italian; while that of the former is probably to be traced to
George Whetstone's
Promos and Cassandra (1578), an adaptation of Cinthio's story, and to his
Heptamerone (1582), which contains a direct English translation. To Cinthio also must be attributed the plot of
Beaumont and Fletcher's
Custom of the Country. ==References==