Pagine1313–1375 · Florence or Certaldo, Italy · also known as Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was a friend of Petrarch and a passionate admirer of Dante. His Decameron (completed around 1353) imagines ten young Florentines escaping the Black Death of 1348 to a country villa, where they tell 100 stories over ten days — witty, bawdy, tragic and wise. It inspired Chaucer, Shakespeare and countless later writers.
Begin with The Decameron.
Part of our Italian Classics reading list — print it, email it to yourself or share it.
Dante Alighieri · Petrarch · Niccolò Machiavelli · Alessandro Manzoni · Carlo Collodi · Luigi Pirandello · Primo Levi · Italo Calvino
Giovanni Boccaccio was a friend of Petrarch and a passionate admirer of Dante. His Decameron (completed around 1353) imagines ten young Florentines escaping the Black Death of 1348 to a country villa, where they tell 100 stories over ten days — witty, bawdy, tragic and wise.
The Decameron is usually considered Giovanni Boccaccio’s best-known work.
Most readers start with The Decameron.
Both refer to the same writer.
Yes — 1 of Giovanni Boccaccio’s books are free to read online in Pagine, the free e-reader and reading tracker.