Master Alberto appears in Pampinea’s first story (I, 10). He is an old but brilliant Bolognese physician, based on one of Giovanni Boccaccio’s contemporaries, a doctor named Alberto de’ Zancari. He falls in love with Malgherida de’ Ghisolieri despite his age, and when she and her friends mock him, he chastises them with some cuttingly clever remarks. He demonstrates the value placed on witty repartee throughout The Decameron and contributes to its arguments that one’s character matters more than things like class, wealth, or age.