La secchia rapita
Cover of the first edition of La Secchia rapita by Tassoni, printed in the maps Ronciglione in 1624
La secchia rapita (The Stolen Bucket) is a mock-heroic epic poem by Alessandro Tassoni based on the real-life event of the same name, War of the Oaken Bucket (1325-1327) was first published in 1622 (see 1622 in poetry). It tells of a war between the Italian cities of Modena and Bologna over the possession of a wooden bucket. It later influenced Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock.
La secchia rapita is also the name of a comic opera by Salieri, first performed in Vienna in 1772. One of the arias from the work was recorded by Cecilia Bartoli on her Salieri Album.
The Stolen Bucket, inside the Ghirlandina Tower
References
- Cambridge History of Italian Literature ed. Brand and Pertile (1996) p.310
- The Salieri Album booklet notes to the recording by Cecilia Bartoli (Decca, 2003)