Attone e Raterio. Un dialogo tra storiografia e filologia

This article discusses Benedetta Valtorta’s recent suggestion concerning the authorship of the Polipticum quod appellatur Perpendiculum. Valtorta’s study adds substantially to our knowledge about the drafting of the glosses that comment upon the text in the main manuscript (Vat. lat. 4322) and about the relation between the Polipticum and the works by Rather of Verona. Nevertheless, the suggestion of stripping Atto of Vercelli of its authorship and the new attribution to Rather himself are not viable hypotheses: the direct and indirect information about the authorship given by the main manuscript, an analysis of the sources of the text – which are still preserved in manuscripts from Vercelli owned and used by Bishop Atto himself –and a comparison with the rest of his writings, along with the consideration of the historical and political contents of the work, show that the main text was indeed written by Bishop Atto. The authorship of the second explicatory redaction and of the glosses should also be attributed to the Vercelli chapter school, operating under the author's guidance. The connection to the works of Rather noted by Benedetta Valtorta and the analysis of some passages from the writings of the two authors point to a dialogue between the two bishops within the wider cultural and scholastic context of their time and suggest that Rather of Verona should be identified not as the author of the Polipticum, but as the anonymous bishop to whom the work is addressed.