Marsilio Ficino
1433 – 1499 Italian philosopher, translator, priest
The Florentine philosopher who translated Plato and the Hermetica for the Medici, igniting the Renaissance revival of Hermetic magic.
- Religion
- Catholic priest who sought to reconcile Christianity with Platonic and Hermetic philosophy.
- Affiliations
- The Platonic Academy of Florence under Medici patronage.
Marsilio Ficino led the Platonic Academy in Medici Florence. Cosimo de' Medici had him translate the newly found Corpus Hermeticum before Plato, so highly was Hermes Trismegistus regarded. His translations launched the Renaissance interest in magic, astrology, and Hermetic philosophy that shaped Bruno, Pico, and Western esotericism.
Connections
- associate of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola — Fellow member of the Florentine Platonic circle.
- associate of Giovanni Pico della Mirandola — Shared the Florentine Neoplatonic milieu.
- influenced Hermes Trismegistus — Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum attributed to him, reviving Hermeticism in the Renaissance.
- influenced Hermes Trismegistus — Translated the Hermetic texts attributed to him.
- influenced Plotinus — Ficino translated Plotinus and made Neoplatonism central to Renaissance thought.
- influenced Plotinus — Ficino's Latin Plotinus revived Neoplatonism.
In the timeline
- 1462 Cosimo de' Medici founds the Platonic Academy mentioned
- 1463 Cosimo de' Medici orders Ficino to translate Hermes mentioned
- 1463 Ficino translates the Hermetica for the Medici mentioned