Guinicelli, Guido

Guinicelli or Guinizelli, Guido (gwē`dō gwēnēchĕl`lē; gwēnētsĕl`lē), c.1230–1276?, Italian poet. In his best verse he wrote of love as an inner spirituality or nobility, disassociated from courtly connotations. For this, and for his style—delicate, intelligent, and brilliant in imagery—he is often seen as precursor and even as formulator of the style of poetry adopted by Cavalcanti, Dante, and others. His influence was marked; Dante called him his literary father. Little of Guinicelli's verse remains.