The Satirist's Purgatory: 'Il Purgatorio delle Cortigiane' and the Writer's Discontent

The Purgatorio delle cortigiane is an anti-courtesan satire known for having
been performed during carnival festivities by its author, the painter Maestro
Andrea, while he was disguised as a beggar. Renaissance courtesans were a
common victim of satirical texts because their fast upward social mobility
rendered them an easy target for the male court writers’ envy. Like other
anti-courtesan texts, the Purgatorio is imbued with the desire to take revenge
on these women’s threatening independence and social climbing. However,
an analysis of the poem’s carnival performance intimates the presence of
another satirical focus. The powerful male speaking voice presented by the
poem is ironically contrasted with the pitiful beggar fi gure from whom that
voice issues forth. Through its performance, the text seems to establish a
double satirical focus that takes its aim not only at the courtesans but at
male writers as well.