Platonic Academy in Kareji

Villa Kareji

Marsilio Ficino

Sculptural portrait of Cosimo Medici in a villa

Sculptural portrait of Lorenzo Medici in a villa

The Platonic Academy in Caregi is an association of Italian writers and philosophers of the humanistic trend, within the framework of which Florentine Neoplatonism developed. The Academy originated in 1462. Its foundation was a deliberate action of the philanthropist and patron of humanists, the powerful Cosimo Medici , who provided the young Marsilio Ficino with a villa in Kareji and a code of Greek manuscripts with the works of Plato and his followers, which the philanthropist expected in a Latin translation.

Villa Medici owned by Medici for more than three decades has been a place for debates among the participants of the Platonic Academy, headed by all these years, Marsilio Ficino. Educated at the University of Florence , where he studied literature, medicine and philosophy, Ficino began his humanistic studies with a passion for the philosophy of Aristotle and Epicurus , but in his mature years he devoted himself entirely to translating from Greek to Latin the works of the legendary Hermes Trismegistus , Plato's dialogues and Neoplaton works. He made this philosophical tradition of antiquity accessible (including thanks to rapidly developing typography) to a wide circle of educated people in Italy and other European countries. In addition, as the head of the Platonov Academy, he conducted extensive correspondence with humanists, theologians and other educated people from different countries, who had just begun to join Platonism .

Many famous humanists were associated with the Platonov Academy - Cristoforo Landino , Giovanni Pico della Mirandola , Giovanni Nesi , as well as poets Angelo Poliziano , Girolamo Benivieni , Naldo Naldi , artist Sandro Botticelli and others. At meetings of the academy, which did not have a strictly fixed membership, everyone who was interested in philosophical problems could attend. Cosimo de Medici was often here, and later his grandson Lorenzo the Magnificent .

One of the leading topics of discussion was aesthetics (the doctrine of the beautiful). The academy was distinguished by an atmosphere of free scientific research, a friendly discussion of issues that aroused general interest, and a desire for the synthesis of fields of knowledge.

The Platonic Academy in Florence was not the only one in Italy: in the 1460s. two more academies arose - in Rome , where it was headed by the humanist Pomponio Leto , and in Naples (under the auspices of the king) led by the humanist poet Giovanni Pontano . Humanist academies have become a new form of self-organization of the intelligentsia - learned communities marked by the freedom to develop thought and appeal to a variety of philosophical traditions. This distinguished them from university corporatism and attachment only to the teachings of Aristotle, who held strong positions in universities. The academies contributed to the widespread dissemination of humanistic knowledge, which was considered among the creators of the new culture as the common heritage, as an important factor in improving man and society.

On the basis of discussions that took place in academies, humanists often created and published works reflecting the atmosphere, problems, and argumentation of disputes. This happened, for example, with the discussion at the villa of Kareji of the dialogue of Plato “Pir”: it prompted Ficino to write in 1469 and publish “ Commentary on“ Pir “Plato ”, which became famous far beyond the academy.