Based on thematic and textual investigation, this reading of Candelaio focuses on the relationship between Bruno’s comedy and his earlier Latin works, as well as his later vernacular dialogues, in particular Spaccio della bestia trionfante. Interweaving dramatic plot and introductory texts, Bruno paints his own biography in terms of a suffered but rationally conceived path: ‘vicissitudo’ and time are key elements in justifying the rational setting of the world and bestowing meaning on human action.