Cristoforo Landino [SEP] place of birth
Cristoforo Landino
Cristoforo Landino (1424 in Pratovecchio, Casentino, Florence – 24 September 1498 in Borgo alla Collina, Casentino) was an Italian humanist and an important figure of the Florentine Renaissance.
Biography.
From a family with ties to the Casentino, Landino was born in Florence in 1424. He studied law and Greek (under George of Trebizond). Against his father's will he turned away from a career in the law and decided to study philosophy instead, a decision he would not have been able to
the medieval aristocratic privileges connected to birth and rank. Marsilio Ficino in his work "De virtutibus morabilus" (1457) claims magnificence is the virtue par excellence, because it expresses God's greatness. Cristoforo Landino in "De vera nobilitate" (1487) describes magnificence as an aspect of fortitude. The new idea of nobility emphasizes deeds and works realized by men whose behaviour is primarily governed by the cultivation of such virtues, rather than merely by noble blood and aristocratic ideals.
Magnificence in Renaissance Italy Magnificence and patronage in Renaissance