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Platonic Academy of Florence

Type Object Region Florence Time c. 1462–1494

A Medici humanist circle formed around Marsilio Ficino around 1462, meeting chiefly at the Villa Careggi, which became a center of Renaissance Platon…

Timeline

  1. c. 1462–1464Careggi · CareggiInfluenced by Gemistos Plethon's lectures during the Council of Florence, Cosimo de' Medici around 1462 sponsored the young Ficino's study of Greek, handing over Plato manuscripts and providing lodging near Careggi; Ficino called this place the "Academy" retreat, and the humanist circle took shape there.
  2. 1469–1484Florence · FlorenceLorenzo de' Medici continued to patronize the circle. Ficino completed the Theologia Platonica (printed 1482) and in 1484 published his complete Latin translation of Plato; banquets and correspondence networks spread Christianized Platonism to Italian courts, with Pico, Landino, Poliziano, and others corresponding with him.
  3. 1492–1494Florence · FlorenceAfter Lorenzo's death in 1492 political patronage faltered; in 1494 French troops entered the city and the Medici were expelled, Pico and Poliziano died the same year, and Ficino's correspondence came to an end. The banquet-style Platonic circle at Careggi was essentially dissolved; later gatherings in the Orti Oricellari should not be seen as a direct continuation of the same institution.

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