This Baroque-inspired cover comes from a 1725 binding of The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio, a masterpiece of Italian literature. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was an Italian writer and poet who helped lay the foundations of Renaissance humanism. With its scope from humour to tragedy and its vivid narrative structure, The Decameron - his defining work - remains an affirmation of humanity and moral values even when read today.