Bembo comico? Linguaggio cifrato e tentazioni parodiche nella corrispondenza con Bernardo Dovizi detto il Bibbiena

This article offers a reading and a stylistic analysis of some letters sent from Pietro Bembo to Bernardo Bibbiena, which reveal an unknown side of the author of the Prose della volgar lingua. In these letters Bembo demonstrates a perfect mastery of the facetious and parodic register. Through the analysis of the textual strategies used to entertain Bibbiena, the contribution aims to explain the profound reasons for the use of a cryptic and allusive language, finding them in the attempt to please his interlocutor in order to obtain his support in the affairs related to ecclesiastics benefices.