Piero Valeriano Bolzani

Pierio Valeriano (1477–1558), born Giovanni Pietro dalle Fosse, was a prominent Italian Renaissance humanist, specializing in the early study of Egyptian hieroglyphs. His most famous works were On the Ill Fortune of Learned Men (De litteratorum infelicitate) and Hieroglyphica, sive, De sacris Aegyptiorvm literis commentarii, a study on hieroglyphics and their use in allegory.

Valeriano was born in Belluno, Italy on 2 February 1477 to a poor family. His father, Lorenzo, was a craftsman who died around 1492, leaving a widow and four children in poverty with a young Valeriano as head of the household.

He began his schooling in Belluno at the public school of Giosippo Faustino, a man who Valeriano would later describe as a gifted and talented teacher. Valeriano remembered his schooling fondly, but constantly felt the burden of supporting his family. Around 1493, Valeriano was brought to Venice by his uncle Fra Urbano Bolzanio, a well-connected Franciscan friar and authority on the Greek language. Bolzanio taught the young Valeriano Greek, and made it possible for him to study under some of Venice’s finest teachers at the time including Giorgio Valla and Marcantinio Sabellico. It was Sabellico that changed Valeriano’s name in honor of the Pierian Muses. Around 1500 he moved to Padua to study under Leoico Tomeo. Here, through the connections of his uncle, Valeriano met and tutored the son of the future Doge of Venice, Andrea Gritti. From 1500 to 1506, Valeriano divided his time between Padua and Venice, making important contacts such as the Ambassador of France, Ianus Lascaris and becoming firmly entrenched in Venice’s scholarly circles. This time allowed him to start tuition from his uncle on his travels through the Near East. It is known that he became particularly interested by his uncle's discussions of Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was here that Valeriano also became friends with and employed by Aldo Manuzio.

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