Dolce Stil Nuovo

(sweet new style, in Italian), an Italian school of poetry of the late 13th century. Its head was the Bolognese poet G. Guinizelli; among his followers were the Florentine poets G. Cavalcanti, the young Dante, and D. Frescobaldi. Dolce stil nuovo poetry was characteristic of the Italian preRenaissance in central and northern Italy when self-knowledge and interest in the inner world of the individual were developing. Dolce stil nuovo poets sang an ennobling, exalted love of woman. However, in some poems (especially those by Cavalcanti) love was a cruel force, inspiring fear and confusion. The main poetic virtues of the school were the elegance and musicality of the verse form.