In the second half of the 16th century, in an Italy divided as much by wars, violence and intrigue as by artistic wealth and cultural innovations, Ascanio de Mori, a nobleman and cultured courtier at the court of the Gonzaga family of Mantua, tried his hand at writing a work that is as little known as it is curious and fascinating, a portrait of late Renaissance Italian culture: Il Giuoco Piacevole. Published in Venice in 1564, the book became a small jewel of Italian playful and satirical literature. The author pretends to engage in a game of cards with friends, an excuse to reconstruct a detailed fresco of the society of the time, behind the pretext of 'Giuoco'. An almost theatrical representation in which priests, nobles, soldiers and ladies of the court are staged with a mocking and at times almost goliardic aftertaste.

Ascanio uses the form of dialogue to lead the reader into an imaginary drawing room where people laugh, joke and talk about the world in a tone that is as light-hearted as it is philosophical. The text reflects all the anxiety for social ascendancy of the time, the vanity of the nobility, the paradoxes as much as the peasant misery. The age is that of the Catholic Counter-Reformation and the imposed conformism is often as oppressive as it is hypocritical, Ascanio is aware of this and reports it in such an effective way that it could also be suitable for contemporary readers. There is no shortage of biting observations on the clergy, as much as on the contradictions and weaknesses of men of power, who set themselves up as champions of morality.

Although it is a work that is little known to the general public, it has fascinated generations of literati precisely because of its unconventional as well as brilliant and light-hearted tone. Some have compared it (with due caution) to a new Boccaccio because of the liveliness of the narrative. To this day, Ascanio's book is a rich testimony to 16th century Italian culture, as well as an effective example of how authors of the time could subtly make social criticisms of authorities and customs without directly attacking institutions in a critical tone.