Satire of Philosophy and Philosophers in Fifteenth Century Florence
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Federica Signoriello Satire of Philosophy and Philosophers in Fifteenth Century Florence Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD 2013 Department of Italian School of European Languages, Culture and Society University College London University of London 1 I, Federica Signoriello, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract After centuries when those who were engaged with the preservation and the transmission of knowledge were only partially devoted to intellectual activities, fifteenth-century Italy saw the rebirth of the philosopher. This thesis traces the changes that shaped the role of the philosopher during the fifteenth-century in Florence, a city whose arts, literature and philosophical heritage have been the focus of scholarly attention for many years. A feature of Quattrocento Florence that has been neglected, however, is comic literature. This thesis discusses a distinctive aspect of this literature: fifteenth century satirical comic literature progressively assumed the form of a tradition the aim of which was to mock intellectual aspirations. Through the evolution of this tradition we can follow the development of the intellectual Florentine milieu. The thesis is divided into two parts. The first deals with the development of the satire of philosophy and is made up of five Chapters, each dedicated to one or more poets who represent a different stage. In his poem Lo Studio d’Atene Stefano Finiguerri mocked the scholars of the Florentine University. Finiguerri was followed by Burchiello and his imitators, who developed a more refined style of comic poetry. Matteo Franco and Alessandro Braccesi addressed philosophers more directly, while Lorenzo de’ Medici parodied the philosophy of Marsilio Ficino. The second part of the thesis deals with the representation of the intellectual understood as the fully formed figure of the philosopher. The two most significant authors here are Marsilio Ficino and his antagonist, the poet Luigi Pulci. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................... 6 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................... 7 ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................................................ 8 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 1 STEFANO FINIGUERRI ..................................................................................................... 24 1.1 Lo Studio d'Atene and the Studio Fiorentino ............................................................ 26 1.2 Lo Studio d'Atene: a trip to Athens ........................................................................... 33 1.3 Main features of Finiguerri’s satire ........................................................................... 43 1.4 Satire of the philosopher: Finiguerri and Arlotto Mainardi ...................................... 59 CHAPTER 2 BURCHIELLO ................................................................................................................... 62 2.1 Burchiello and the satire of scholars: heyday and conclusion of the trip to Athens . 64 2.2 Main features of Burchiello’s satire .......................................................................... 68 2.3 Burchiello versus Filelfo ........................................................................................... 85 2.4 Burchiello versus Alberti .......................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER 3 BURCHIELLO AFTER BURCHIELLO ................................................................................ 95 CHAPTER 4 MATTEO FRANCO AND ALESSANDRO BRACCESI ......................................................... 101 4.1 Matteo Franco ......................................................................................................... 102 4.2 Matteo Franco’s texts .............................................................................................. 108 4.3 Alessandro Braccesi ................................................................................................ 118 4.4 Alessandro Braccesi’s texts .................................................................................... 127 CHAPTER 5 LORENZO DE' MEDICI .................................................................................................. 141 5.1 Simposio, a drinking party....................................................................................... 142 5.2 Ficino and divine frenzy.......................................................................................... 145 5.3 Satire and parody of Ficino’s furores ..................................................................... 149 5.4 Simposio and tradition ............................................................................................. 160 5.5 A parody of the Ficinian soul in Ragionavasi di sodo ............................................ 164 CHAPTER 6 LUIGI PULCI AND MARSILIO FICINO ........................................................................... 171 6.1 Pulci and Ficino. Evidence of their dispute ............................................................ 174 6.2 The ‘second poem’: Cantos XXIV-XXVIII ............................................................ 180 6.3 Metamorphosis: King Marsilione becomes Marsilio Ficino ................................... 185 6.4 Dating Canto XXV .................................................................................................. 188 CHAPTER 7 PULCI AND PHILOSOPHY: PARODY OR INSPIRATION? ................................................ 193 7.1 Free will in relation to magic, religious tolerance and salvation ............................ 196 7.2 Further theological and philosophical issues related to Ficino ............................... 211 4 7.3 Morgante as historia between knowledge and magic ............................................. 217 CHAPTER 8 PULCI'S SATIRE OF FICINO ........................................................................................... 222 8.1 A new chronology: 1473-1483................................................................................ 222 8.2 Marsilio the betrayer ............................................................................................... 227 8.3 Ficino the Philosopher............................................................................................. 231 8.4 Texts ........................................................................................................................ 242 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................. 251 APPENDIX I ................................................................................................................... 254 APPENDIX II .................................................................................................................. 255 APPENDIX III ................................................................................................................ 258 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 270 5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like thank my supervisor Dilwyn Knox for his thoughtful guidance and endless patience during the last few years. My gratitude is also for my second supervisor Catherine Keen and her helpfulness, care and invaluable advice. Many people supported my journey through the ups and downs of my Ph.D. life in London and I should thank them all for their understanding and their help: my colleagues at the Italian department, especially Nicola, Enza, Andrew, Tim, Laura, Eleanor, Cristina and Lucia; my colleagues at London Business School library, especially John, Ann, Tracey and Barbara; the Daly and the Samek-Lodovici families; all my colleagues at the Warburg Institute library. I have had good friends in London who unfortunately heard all about my research: thanks Bekah, Mark, Francesco, Stefano, Oscar, Désirée, Raphaëlle, Steff. Thanks to the people who inspired my decisions: ‘la prof.’ Anna Maria Rizzi and Professor Anna Maria Cabrini. Thanks to those friends who have been there for me albeit in Italy: Chiara, Elisa, Stefania, Anna, Silvia, Marco, Claudio, Gemma, Alessia. Thanks Milly, I am so glad that our paths crossed. Thanks to my family and to Paul, Jean and Rachel. This thesis is dedicated to Mark: it would have never been written without his love and his dedication. 6 REFERENCES I cite classical texts, Italian vernacular texts and the Vulgate according to the standard numeration of book, section, etc. I cite all the other works according to editions in the Bibliography. In the text and notes I have expanded abbreviations, separated words and modified punctuation according to modern usage. Otherwise I have retained the spelling and orthography of the original. Unless I state otherwise, translations are my own. 7 ABBREVIATIONS Crusca Vocabolario degli Accademici della Crusca, all the editions available on the Accademia della Crusca, (Cruscle 1.0) website. DBI Dizionario biografico degli italiani, available on the Treccani website. GDLI Salvatore Battaglia, Grande dizionario. SdB Burchiello, I sonetti