Giovanni Battista Adriani

Who was Giovanni Battista Adriani?

Giovanni Battista Adriani was an Italian historian.

He was born of a patrician family of Florence, and was secretary to the republic of Florence. He was among the defenders of the city during the siege of 1530, but subsequently joined the Medici party and was appointed professor of rhetoric at the university.

At the instance of Cosimo I he wrote a history of his own times, from 1536 to 1574, in Italian, which is generally, but according to Brunet erroneously, considered a continuation of Guicciardini. De Thou acknowledges himself greatly indebted to this history, praising it especially for its accuracy.

Adriani also composed funeral orations in Latin on the emperor Charles V and other noble personages, and was the author of a long letter on ancient painters and sculptors prefixed to the third volume of Vasari. His Istoria dei suoi tempi was published in Florence in 1583; a new edition appeared also in Florence in 1872.