Giovanni Boccaccio

Item 14C

The Decameron

1470
First Edition
First Appearance in Print

Boccacio’s book centers on a group of men and women who flee a plague-ridden Florence and pass their time telling humorous and bawdy stories—not unlike passing the time during Covid, perhaps? Written in Italian prose, the Decameron is about people, and conveys the earthiness and subtlety that characterizes human experience. The range of perspectives signals the historical change from a unified, God-centered worldview to a diverse, human-centered one.