Cristoforo Landino

Abstract

Cristoforo Landino (1424--1498) was a leading humanist in Medici Florence; he was known as an accomplished Latin poet and an enthusiastic proponent of the Italian vernacular. He lectured on Latin and Italian literature at the Florentine Studio from 1458 to 1497, numbering among his students Marsilio Ficino, the most important Renaissance translator, commentator, and promoter of Plato. Though not himself a professional philosopher, Landino took a keen interest in philosophy, especially -- though not exclusively -- Platonism. He produced three philosophical dialogues: De anima, Disputationes Camaldulenses, and De vera nobilitate. Largely derivative, not only of classical authors but also of medieval and Renaissance thinkers, these three works, written in elegant Ciceronian Latin, dealt with philosophical themes such as the immortality of the soul, the superiority of contemplation to action, the supreme good, and the primacy of virtue in determining nobility. In addition, he drew on various Platonic notions, mostly to do with ethics, in his allegorical interpretation of Virgil's Aeneid and his commentary on Dante's Divine Comedy, both of which were highly influential; and in this way he contributed to the Renaissance revival of Platonism.