See Also: Ficino, Marsilio(encyclopedia)

Ficino, Marsilio (sh)




born Oct. 19, 1433, Figline, Republic of Florence
died Oct. 1, 1499, Careggi, near Florence

Italian philosopher, theologian, and linguist.

His translations and commentaries on the writings of Plato and other Classical Greek authors marked the beginning of the Florentine Platonist Renaissance. In conceiving the universe as a hierarchy of substances that descends from God to matter, he was strongly influenced by Neoplatonism and medieval views. The Cambridge Platonists and related movements in France and Italy reflect Ficino's interpretation of Platonism. Of his original writings, Platonic Theology (1482) and Book on the Christian Religion (1474) are most significant.