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The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, v. 4 (Hardcover)
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The Letters of Marsilio Ficino, v. 4 (Hardcover)
Series: The Letters of Marsilio Ficino
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Marsilio Ficino (1433-99) directed the Platonic Academy in Florence
and it was the work of this Academy that gave the Renaissance in
the 15th century its impulse and direction. During his childhood
Ficino was selected by Cosimo de' Medici for an education in the
humanities. Later Cosimo directed him to learn Greek and then to
translate all the works of Plato into Latin. This enormous task he
completed in about five years. He then wrote two important books,
"The Platonic Theology" and "The Christian Religion", showing how
the Christian religion and Platonic philosophy were proclaiming the
same message. The extraordinary influence the Platonic Academy came
to exercise over the age arose from the fact that its leading
spirits were already seeking fresh inspiration from the ideals of
the civilizations of Greece and Rome and especially from the
literary and philosophical sources of those ideals. Florence was
the cultural and artistic centre of Europe at the time and leading
men in so many fields were drawn to the Academy: Lorenzo de' Medici
(Florence's ruler), Alberti (the architect) and Poliziano (the
poet). Moreover Ficino bound together an enormous circle of
correspondents throughout Europe from the Pope in Rome to John
Colet in London, from Reuchlin in Germany to de Ganay in France.
Published during his lifetime, "The Letters" have not previously
been translated into English. The letters in this volume cover the
period from September 1477 to April 1478, months which culminated
in the outcome of the Pazzi Conspiracy in which Guiliano de' Medici
was assassinated in Florence Cathedral, and from which his brother
Lorenzo only just escaped. Ficino, a non-political philosopher with
no worldly amibions, yet found himself advising the two main
factions struggling for political power in Florence. His appeal for
respect for both human and divine law, and thus for a reawakening
of spirituality was in marked contrast to the prevailing atmosphere
of lawlessness and greed. It was symptomatic that those most
involved in the Conspiracy included a pope, a cardinal, an
archbishop and two priests. In his letter to the Venetian
ambassador, Bernardo Bembo, Ficino commends him more than any of
his correspondents for his humanity. Indeed, it is the Latin form
of this word, humanitas, which Ficino uses to mean "the love of
mankind", and speaks of its enormous power. Another aspect of the
word humanity is that it is human beings alone who have this power,
and the penalty for man is that if he does not set out to realize
his "infinite nature", his lot is far worse than that of the
beasts. In his letter to Lorenzo de' Medici (the younger), Ficino
urges - "approach the task with good hope, free born Lorenzo: far
greater than the heavens is He who made you; and you yourself will
be greater than the heavens as soon as you resolve upon this task.
For the celestial bodies are not to be sought by us outside in some
other place; for the heavens in their entirety are within us, in
whom the light of life and the origin of heaven dwell."
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