PETRARCH THE MAN 



Visconti, who was religious enough not to scandalize 

 the Church, and who was the hero of a romantic love 

 affair, — all this besides being a really remarkable 

 scholar, — was far better fitted to popularize the new 

 and great movement than an uncomely, ungracious 

 pedant, or even a man as powerful and as superior as 

 Dante, or as lovable but at the same time as modest as 

 Boccaccio. 



76 



