Ficino, Marsilio (1433–1499)
Ficino, Marsilio (1433–1499)
A philosopher, astrologer, and translator of the works of Plato, Ficino was best known for advancing the cause of classical education and humanism in Florence. The son of a physician, he showed great ability and was taken under the guidance of Cosimo de' Medici. He studied the classics and was appointed by Cosimo to tutor his grandson Lorenzo de' Medici, to translate the works of Plato into Latin, and to found a new Florentine academy, modeled on the famous academy of ancient Greece. His translation of unknown Greek works into Latin played a major role in spreading classical learning and philosophy throughout Renaissance Italy. Ficino was a leading thinker of the Neoplatonic school, and believed in reconciling the ideas of Plato and the classical pagan world's concept of the soul with the teachings of Christianity. He outlined his beliefs in his best-known work, Plato's Theology of the Immortal Spirit. Seeing no contradiction in classical science and Christian doctrine, he also advanced the cause of talismans and astrology, which he describes in Three Books on Life. For these ideas he was condemned by the church, which accused him of magic and nearly brought him to trial on a charge of heresy.
See Also: academies; Medici, Cosimo de'; Neoplatonism