#I also have Ficino and Lorenzo thoughts

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

I started following you long ago for the lotr works and your work about renaissance Venice that are all greats and already complimented you so sorry If I pop up totaly random again, but I'm amazed by your Marsilio Ficino posts, because I've been into 15th century Lureantian Florence for ages and although at some point I started to read everything else, now I'm returned to my old habits and is so so nice to see anyone interested on Ficino and his boyband the Neoplatonic Academy!

On an exclusive pairing term I'm interested in all thes possible relationships between anyone who lived in 15th century Florence, having been an arts management/culture economics major I'm more into painters/artists/sort off, in particular Sandro Botticelli and his relationship with the Medicis, with Poliziano, Leonardo, but I'm also a Lorenzo/Poliziano/Pico truther, etc. I have to say that with time my appreciation for the Medicis decresed and now I'm more interested in other rich families, patron dynasties and drama annexes including the Pazzi ofc, and with them anything else that went wrong with the 1478 conspiracy.

And Giovanni Cavalcanti/Marsilio Ficino, so many memories from uni years! (I'm Italian so this is our standard study program eheh). I just remember how MF was down so bad for his platonic bro :')

I wanted to write to you a better paragraphs but my brain at the moment is all "yay Pazzi ooooh murder wooo so much philosophy, now I'm going to read a 1919 essay on Jstor about a sodomy process occurred in 1501 of an obscure venetian totally random poet".

Have a nice week and good Ficinanti lectures! <3 (and with all your amazing, wondersful, show stopping lotr fic!) ;D

Ficino and his Boyband is a) a great band name in and of itself and b) accurate because he was forever haranguing them to play music with him since we all know beautiful music, alongside staring at hot men, is a prime way to help get closer to God and the Truth etc.

He even has Luigi Pulci for his Dastardly Band Rival

Lorenzo: can I like both of you?

Ficino: absolutely not. you have to choose. and it should be me.

Lorenzo: mmmmm no.

but yeah! I love when people pop up who are also into all things Ficinian! My brief past life in academia was all social history of early modern Europe - and while I did meddle with things like translation and state and social identity in colonial New Spain (what is now Mexico) and political/state identity in reformation England, my real love was always the Italian city states. Each and every one of them a fun and exciting hot mess. (And particularly queerness and the state in 15th and 16th c...there might be a thematic trend here)

I had an ex describe Florence from 1430-1510 as "a bunch of toddlers piled on a tricycle going downhill at top speed with no breaks" and I think that's accurate.

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in particular Sandro Botticelli and his relationship with the Medicis, with Poliziano, Leonardo

I just have this image of Botticelli in the background yelling commentary at people who are like "that's nice Sandro". For some reason that's how my brain imagines both him and Poliziano.

Foreground: Ficino & Lorenzo arguing about church taxes or something, or Ficino & Pico arguing about Platonic Concepts of Love or whatever

Background: Poliziano and Botticelli sharing a pack of cigarettes making scathing soto vocce commentary on what is happening.

In the wings: Giovanni trying to convince his boyfriend not to do anything too stupid, or at the very least Don't Write It Down & Have It Printed, while Luigi Pulci is like "this is Marsilio we're talking about here. He loves writing things down and having them printed then becoming very annoyed when the Church arrives to knock-knock-knock on his parish door."

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So I'm working on a Ficino book and I have this mental image in my head of him and Giovanni on a rooftop. It's like 2am. They're trying to get Ficino's father Who Is Now A Demon/Revenant For Reasons into a bag. They look over and see Leonardo da Vinci on the roof with them in a strange contraption.

They all stare at each other.

Giovanni: hey Leo.

Leonardo: hey Giovanni. Nice night for it Marsilio.

Marsilio: . . ...

Leonardo: is that...is that your father with glowing red eyes?

Marsilio: my father is dead, Leo. You know this.

Leonardo:

Leonardo: ok.

Leonardo:

Leonardo: have you told him that? he doesn't look dead.

Marsilio: go away, Leo.

Giovanni: are those.

Giovanni:

Giovanni: are those wings? like....are those wooden wings? are you....are you going to try and fly?

Leonardo: um. yes?

Giovanni:

Giovanni: ok.

Leonardo: this is a uh...this is a moment where we all pretend we didn't see each other isn't it? This is one of those moments, right?

Marsilio: yes. yes it is. Bye Leonardo.

On the street 9 year old Machiavelli escorting his drunk dad home from the tavern: NICE UNDEAD FATHER YOU HAVE THERE FICINO.

Marsilio: oh my god shut the fuck up

Anyway - please enjoy this scene that has been rotting in my head for a fortnight now.

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I'm also a Lorenzo/Poliziano/Pico truther

always and forever I am with you as a Lorenzo/Poliziano/Pico truther. You don't bury two men in the same grave* unless there are Reasons!

(*you do, in fact, sometimes do that. But I'm ignoring this)

I remember when I was doing grad work at uni Pico and Poliziano were The Hot Thing to gossip about in the staff room. Like I had profs, after a bottle or two of wine, being like "well, Piero poisoned them because of politics, sure, but also mostly because they were probably shacked up with his father at some point and he felt weird about it"

As always, there is the Formal Historian Opinion and the I've Had Two Bottles of Wine and/or My Writer's Hat Is On Opinion. Two, sometimes radically different, things.

Anyway - I'm here for Poliziano/Lorenzo/Pico. At the very least it was Ploziano/Lorenzo then later Poliziano/Pico and maybe there was one really messy Carnival week when it was Pico/Lorenzo. Also maybe Pico/Marsilio but they never, ever talked about it ever again. Marsilio would have felt so ashamed and guilty and Pico would be like "it's kind of like fucking an older brother/uncle and I don't want to think about it" and Giovanni is like "Excuse Me I am your Soul Husband, Marsilio" and Marsilio is like "you have four daughters with your mistress - we have Complications in our relationship ok?"

god everyone was a WRECK

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I just remember how MF was down so bad for his platonic bro :')

They were married! In their souls! I don't subscribe to it being a one-sided thing. I know some historians and writers have argued that it was one-sided with Ficino being desperate for Giovanni who didn't return the same level of feelings. But I don't really subscribe to that for various reasons.

Now, how their relationship manifested between them, in terms of physical and non-physical love, who knows.

Ficino entered the priesthood in his forties and I believe it was a natural progression for him in terms of his own philosophical journey. It was also a bit of a God Found Me moment. Like a real calling, versus "third son and I need an occupation" which was the case for obviously 95% of the clergy. We know Ficino took his role as priest very seriously and undertook all his duties with diligence and dedication. He kept accounts, did all the smaller administrative tasks that a lot of priests would shove off onto the shoulders of someone else. Nothing was too small or humble for Ficino's attention.

Given that aspect of who he was, and his seriousness with which he undertook his own philosophical teachings and practices, I presume he took all of his vows earnestly and seriously, not least the vow of celibacy. Or he would have tried very, very hard.

Obviously, celibacy in the Catholic Church has a long, complicated history and even in Ficino's lifetime there were still some mutterings about it. Though he was absolutely not one of the people going "hm, maybe priests should be able to have a wife or something."

Ficino's relationship with sex and physical desire was clearly complicated. Made worse, likely, by the fact that the object(s) of his desire were fellow men and we all know what that means in the year of our lord 1470-something.

That said, physical desire was very much intertwined with God, Beauty and Truth in his ladder of love/salvation. It's something he struggled to reconcile - the fact that he firmly believed perception and engagement with Beauty by the Mind, Soul and Spirit of a person is how we are to become closer to God and a person comes to find and know true Beauty through desire. It's one of the foundations over which he and Pico quarreled as it relates to the Platonic understanding of the ladder of love.

Pico felt Ficino's insistence that physical desire be part of salvation was too risky and would lead to sodomy/sinful things while Ficino couldn't perceive a world in which Beauty was understood or discovered through means that were entirely non-corporeal.

It's all a little pear shaped.

The mind tries to reach God through beauty, which is determined by desire.

For a man who was so very cerebral and spiritual - who bled into the mystic and ecstatic traditions of Catholic spirituality - he was at the same time incredibly earthy and corporeal. I suspect his being quite aware of his own body and its urges is what drove a lot of this push/pull that we see in his writing.

There are plenty of letters where he writes Giovanni in a manner that suggests they have certainly partaken of physical displays of love with one another. There's that one where he writes about how he and Giovanni don't need tongues and hands to show love to one another implying, of course, that they have done such things.

He wrote to Bernardo Bembo that Bernardo must have the eyes of a lynx for he perceived that Giovanni and Marsilio were soul-married (or whatever) long before they themselves were aware of it. Which makes me laugh because of what a perfect fucking fanfic set-up that is. Like what? Next you're telling me, Marsilio, that you and Giovanni were travelling once and Oh No There Was Only Bed**.

Bernardo: GET A ROOM.

Marsilio: ?????

Giovanni: ?????

Bernardo: I swear to God and the good mother Mary you two are gagging for each other and need to just fuck about it or something.

Poliziano, in the background: I've been saying that for yeeeaaaars.

(**never mind that everyone shared beds back then so it would have been very normal and they just would have been like "why would there be more than one bed?? you can fit so many people in one bed and we all have minimal furniture. It's 1473.")

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now I'm going to read a 1919 essay on Jstor about a sodomy process occurred in 1501 of an obscure venetian totally random poet

oh my god, Venetian sodomy stories break my heart because Venice went so hard on punishment in a way Florence just...didn't.

This is what happens when you put a city on a lagoon! It makes everyone paranoid that if they offend God he will sink them under the waves.

Granted, it was quite something in the 17th century when the Ten ordered a review of the Venetian merchant fleet, have heard that there was Much Sodomy & Other Vile Things Occurring and found that yeah, everyone has been fucking each other on boats for centuries now.

And the Ten were like: :O whaaaat and God didn't strike us down??????

Pokemon meme: The Ten Hurt Themselves in Their Confusion.

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I remember reading one account of a man (I want to say he was a cittadini merchant) who began an affair with his rower. It was a long term thing, the rower even married a (probably illegitimate) niece or something of the merchant. They were very much clearly Lifers.

Anyway - got found out and the two were rounded up and the cittadini guy told his rower, 'Look, just say I forced you. Say it was unwilling on your part and I was making you do it' etc. because he figured as a member of the cittadini class he had a better chance of getting off the hook than his lover who was as a no one.

His lover was reluctant to do that but agreed to the rouse - however, the Ten were on a serious crackdown that year and hauled him in for torture anyway. Despite his being a "victim" and therefore, traditionally, not seen as being as much to "blame" for the sinful acts etc.

During the torture, the rower ended up confirming that no, it was not forced. Yes, he was very much into it. The big kicker was that one of them ended up admitting that they switched "roles" so both topped and both bottomed, which was obviously a big deal in terms of perception of masculinity and culpability in these cases.

Sadly, they both ended up on the pyre and were burned to death between the pillars of the Lion of San Marco and Poseidon in the palazzo di San Marco.

(nb: the details are sketched out loosely here, it's been a while since I read that case so I could be misremembering exactly how things played out)

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Every time I see pics of tourists between those pillars I'm like, "Do you know how many men were burned to death for sodomy right where you're standing? And how many members of government were hanged for treason (or "treason") and their bodies left so their colleagues got to walk by them on their way into work? I bet there's a ghost in your picture."

It's a bit of a mood killer for tourists, apparently.

annnnyway. Venice and sodomy laws! Heartbreaking!

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Despite that, the city did have a thriving sodomy scene which is hilarious. Though, as the famous saying went, It takes only seven days for the sun to set on a Venetian law and they must recreate it.

Love that bit in Sanudo's diary where he's like: The Ten, in their wisdom, issued another promulgation reminding everyone that sodomy is illegal and it was read aloud in the Rialto and everyone in the market laughed.

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ok, my turn to apologize for making this WAY too long. I just - I have the worms they are in my brain and they are going !!!!!!!! about all things relating to Ficino and also 15th and 16th century Venice.

<3 <3 <3 <3

[bazzybelle]

I'm here for you nerding out about history, so: 4, 5, 9, 13, 29!

Oh boy, do I have a long post for you... One of these took up A LOT of time fact-checking and researching, I could do a power point presentation on it ;)

4) Favourite historical era?

The Italian Renaissance, hands down. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am such a fucking dweeb for the Renaissance. Specifically the 1400s in Florence, during the rise of The Medici. Say what you want about them, (yes they were corrupt and essentially a Renaissance version of a mafia family) but the good they did for Florence AND the preservation of ancient culture cannot be denied. 

To be able to live during that time, when art and literature and philosophy was thriving. Where new ideas about love and spirituality were making their ways into the intelligentsia, I would have LOVED to witness that. 

Thing is, I’d have to do it disguised as a man, because history is a bag of dicks, unfortunately. But just to be able to be a part of a symposium with Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and Lorenzo dei’ Medici and just listen to them discuss Plato and the ways of Platonic Love. To bear witness to Botticelli painting or Michelangelo sculpting. My sibling once told me I have a “Renaissance Face” (which was probably the best compliment they could have given me). If that could have gotten me an in, with these guys, even as a model, it would have been fine with me. Just to watch the masters at their craft. 

I dunno, maybe I could have joined them (disguised as a man, of course), and share my own thoughts about philosophy and love and sacred bonds between people. Maybe talk about new ideas involving gender… who knows?

Not to mention, Florence also had a thriving underground queer scene during this time… so… do with that what you will.

Renaissance Florence… Sometime between 1450 and 1490.

5) Favourite weapon?

You know, as much as I love history, I really don’t care for the military stuff. In fact, I had to look up Ancient Roman weapons, because if I were to have a favourite weapon, it would be from the Roman Empire. 

So, in my quick research of Roman weaponry, I remembered that the Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire) had a fucking BADASS weapon that had everyone from the Crusaders to the Mongols quaking. They called it Greek Fire, and it was typically used during naval battles. What you would have, if a flame-thrower device attached to the front of your ship and Greek Fire would just come out from there. The precise recipe for Greek Fire has been lost to the ages, but you did not want to fuck with it. 

What made Greek Fire especially horrifying was that it would continue to burn while in contact with water. You could not douse it. You just had to let it burn until it ran out. Think of that creepy bright green fire from Game Of Thrones. The one that they used for the Battle of Blackwater and that epic church explosion. That would be the closest thing to Greek Fire that I can think of. It was terrifying, amazing, and allowed Constantinople to remain a military powerhouse in the Mediterranean, despite constantly being threatened by neighbouring empires.

9) Favourite historical film?

I already answered this question in another ask. It’s La Vita E Bella (Life is Beautiful). I highly encourage everyone to watch this movie, but only when feeling emotionally stable because it has a VERY sad ending. 

Here are some other historical movies I REALLY love: 

The King’s Speech - Can’t stand the Monarchy, but GOD I love Colin Firth and he is AMAZING as King George VI. 

The Young Victoria - Again… Do not like the Monarchy, but Emily Blunt is so charming, and this was such a sweet movie. 

The Imitation Game - Made me seeth in fury over the injustice served to Alan Turing, but fucking Bumblebee Cabbagepatch was SO GOOD. 

And again… SO many movies I need to watch… I mean Jesus.

13) Something random about some random historical person in a random era.

This random fact is about the Emperor Justinian and his Consort, the Empress Theodora. He changed a marriage law in order to be able to marry her. 

Back in the Early days of the Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire), around 525 CE, you weren’t allowed to marry beneath your class, and Theodora was not only a commoner, but she was an… an… actress! (cue shocked gasps and pearl clutching here). Mind you, she was also known as a prostitute, but that’s debatable. Anyway, Justinian created a law so that her status could be changed, and then changed another law, so that he could marry her. He was so in love with her, that he did not give any shits about what anyone had to say about their union. 

And honestly, he could not have picked a better Consort. Theodora was smart, funny, and an all-around badass. She challenged him, matched him, and took charge when she needed to. She was the reason the Nika Revolts failed and the Emperor kept his throne. She cared for Justinian while he was fighting the Plague (yes, that Plague, it was around during Justinian’s time too). 

God, I love them.

29) Great historical mystery you are interested in?

Oooo… This is another REALLY good question.

The first answer I came up with is a bit of a “cheat” amongst historians. A sorta of “of course you would pick that, everyone wants to know what happened there”, but I really don’t care. When I first heard about The Princes In The Tower, I was beyond fascinated by their story and the mystery surrounding them. 

Ok, a bit of a backstory. Picture it. England, 1483. For the last several decades, the country has been ravaged by a civil war known as The Wars of The Roses. I will NOT go into this, because Christ we do not have time for that. All you need to know for this story is that the current monarch is Edward IV. He has MANY children, among which are two young sons (an heir and a spare). If he can keep hold of his reign for long enough, he is set to establish a new dynasty. Unfortunately for him, he dies in April after an unexpected illness (do with this what you will, could have been poison, could have been the Middle Ages where a paper cut could kill you). 

Now, England did not really have a Law of Succession (that would come MUCH later, in 1701), a reigning monarch would have to hope that his vassals would follow who he deemed as heir and not stir any shit. For the most part, it worked out well, but there were a couple of instances where shenanigans took place (see: Empress Matilda and The Anarchy). ANYWAY, the heir to the British throne was Edward IV’s son, Edward V. Thing is, Edward’s 12. He’s a child, and not ready to take the throne. Before his death, Edward IV established that until the time of his son’s majority, the Kingdom would be ruled under a Regency, headed by his younger brother, Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Richard would henceforth be known as the Lord Protector (the most powerful guy in the Kingdom, basically). 

Makes sense, right? Well, get ready for some shenanigans. 

This is already getting WAY too long, so I’ll speed things up. Richard claims that the King isn’t safe with his current protectors (his maternal uncle, and his half-brother), so he has them arrested and executed and the King placed under his custody (for his protection). This causes the King’s mother, Elizabeth Woodville to go into sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. She takes her remaining children with her (including the spare, 9 year old Richard, Duke of York). 

Up until this point, everyone is certain that the young King will be coronated as soon as he and Uncle Richard arrive in London. However, that does not happen. The coronation is postponed again, and again, and again. The young King, meanwhile, is sent to live in the Tower of London (which at that time served as a place where one would wait to be coronated). Here’s where things get a little dicey, see Uncle Richard claims his dearly departed brother was previously married before Elizabeth Woodville, thereby making any and all his children illegitimate. Thus making him the true heir to the throne. Around this time, Richard requested that the 9-year old Duke of York be sent as well to be protected in the Tower. 

The last time anyone would see the two Princes would be in the summer of 1483. Richard is crowned King Richard III (of Shakespeare fame) and would go on to rule for a little while before dying at the Battle of Bosworth Field (where “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse” comes from). Henry Tudor becomes King Henry VII and establishes the well-known Tudor dynasty. 

The fate of the boys remains, to this day, unknown. There are many theories as to what happened. The most popular one being that they were smothered with a pillow and buried under a staircase in the Tower. In fact, a couple of centuries later, some bones were found in the tower and were assumed to be those of the two Princes. However, examinations in the 30s showed them to contain animal bones, along with the bones of two small children. No further testing was done, and the bones were re-buried. There have been petitions for there to be DNA testing involved, but Queen Elizabeth II refused to do so. 

Who knows, maybe King Charlie III is just as curious as the rest of us, and will agree to exhume the bodies once more. 

There are other theories and many pretenders that have popped up throughout history, but this post is already STUPID long, so I’ll leave it here

ASK ME HISTORICAL QUESTIONS! THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN!

[lazaminn21]

Final Reflection of class 12-5-17

Credit: https://www.florenceinferno.com/lorenzo-the-magnificent/

He is well known for his contribution to the art world by sponsoring artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. His life coincided with the mature phase of Italian Renaissance, he was also a sponsor of scholars and poets besides just artists.

He was also diplomat going on trips to Rome as a young child.

Patronage,

Lorenzo is remembered as The Magnificent for his political astuteness as well as his artistic skills. He was a writer, a poet and a great patron: in these capacities he did so much to beautify his beloved Florence. In his novel Inferno, Dan Brown sums up that Lorenzo was said to have had a superb eye.

Lorenzo was both ruler and scholar. A distinguished vernacular poet, he was also passionately interested in Classical antiquity and became the center of a humanist circle of poets, artists, and philosophers, which included Marsilio Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, Angelo Poliziano, Botticelli, Bertoldo di Giovanni, and Michelangelo.

He enriched the collections of the Medici family with precious works of art and rare books. Lorenzo expanded the collection of books called Laurentian Library, today the heritage of the city of Florence.

He continued the Medici patronage of ecclesiastical institutions. Lorenzo enriched the family church of San Lorenzo, where the tomb of Piero and Giovanni de’ Medici was completed by Verrocchio between 1469 and 1472.

I find Lorenzo so fascinating because beyond his family being The Godfather's of the renaissance, he himself was an artist. This for me is is quite amazing he was such a highly skilled person of his time and he had a ton of grace with it. With what comes latter after his time is also very interesting but my thought keep coming back to Lorenzo. He just stands out to me.

[rachartwork]

Essay part two

The Renaissance was all about the ‘re-birth’ of western culture. This included the use of art, philosophy and the development of architecture. It expanded lots of different interpretations around the ideas of religion and science. This era was present around the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Its purpose was to ‘brighten the era’ which was done by being inspired by the Greek and Roman antiquity. Before this era, western culture, in particular Italy focussed on medieval values. Excitingly, the growing understanding of maths and science created the use of perspective that started to be seen in art work. Fra Angelico’s ‘Coronation of the Virgin’ (1370) is an example of what artwork was like before perspective became apparent. One of the first paintings that displayed the use of linear perspective was Masaccio’s ‘Holy Trinity’, 1428. Churches influenced heavily on the idea of re-birthing art as saint sculptures were changed for mosaics.

For this part of the project, in being tasked with binding a suitable quote which encapsulates the ethos of the Renaissance, I have chosen Marsilio Ficino, an Italian philosopher, who stated “all creatures love, and love is attracted first to beauty. Whatever we wish people to love, we must first make beautiful and beauty is first encountered as sexiness.” This was a man who taught Lorenzo (a patron of the arts) and engaged in conversation with Michelangelo every day. He believed that society had to take a complex route through life which would result in beauty and love. This created a huge impact on the art made during the Renaissance era. Art work included the idea of lust and glamour – something that would inspire the viewers to absorb more positivity in their lives. Ficino was one of the biggest names that empowered this change in society. He and Lorenzo wanted to engage more with the public in order to help spread new ideas about beauty and lust. They did this by persuading Botticelli to produce new paintings which symbolised a new positive humanity. Botticelli captured this by using figures that looked thoughtful, showed tenderness to sadness and reminded people to appreciate the cycle of life. An example of his worked that showed this was Primavera, 1482.

As well as Botticelli, other key artists that developed the ideas during this time were Michelangelo, Raphael and Leonardo Di Vinci. Works such as the ‘Mona Lisa’, the sculpture of ‘David’ (which became the symbol of the city) and ‘The School of Athens’ showed how art was improving by the use of maths. Also, the use of attractiveness and the development of religion appeared in the work of these artists. They helped spread the new ideas of beauty and re-birthing society. It gained positivity in the public’s mind. On the other hand, some saw negative changes to this new way of art. Some saw it as copying the idea of antiquity, something that was already present in society. Also, people in society thought art in this era was seen as ‘a project, or fell to early destruction’. Examples of why they thought this was because the ‘The Last Supper’ by Da Vinci, 1495, was never completed. Michelangelo’s Bathing Soldiers too was incomplete.

Other key movements in society that helped embark new ideas showed inspiration from the development of the Renaissance. These movements were the growth of Christianity, classical antiquity and when the rise and demand for artists evolved. During the Christianity era, they used a similar approach to the Renaissance to promote new ideas to society which was by using a humanistic attitude. They wanted to rediscover the importance of Roman culture and embrace the positive understanding of the growing religion. Michelangelo was commissioned by the Pope to produce the work of ‘The Creation of Adam’, 1511. Carravaggio used painting techniques such as applying strong dark and light tones; they represented the behaviour of everyday light. When classical antiquity was apparent, western culture kept the idea of ‘renewing’ society over and over. Classical art and literature started to improve society. When art became a growing culture in society and artists were starting to be taken more seriously, the work they produced started to attract the eye of viewers into seeing what was key when observing their civilisation. This then linked back to the quote by Ficino, where he saw the importance of how people saw the world and how it could help the next generations grow and nurture the good in the world. Simone Martini was another artist who promoted the social aspects of politics and religion in his work. It was a struggle for him at the time due to the debate whether paintings should be referred to as ‘art’.                  

The Renaissance changed society by developing new art techniques such as precision and also started to enhance the development of religion and the use of science. Greek and Roman work is still visible today through architecture found from the city’s squares, such as the Piazza San Marco. The artwork ‘Procession on Piazza San Marco’  by Gentile Bellini,1496 shows how the Italians cherished this era due to the square being intact today. This has developed from the reputation of man’s patience and creativity during this era. This was reflected in the words of Jacopo d’Albizzotto Guidi, a Tuscan poet, who wrote “As any man may see for himself, Venice is the noblest, the sovereign city.” This key movement in history changed the perception of art. With the help of new understandings in maths and science, it birthed the idea of angles and linear techniques. Due to this, it resulted in the growth of new understandings and ideas. Using artists and philosophers to promote these new concepts, it sustained the importance of positivity for new centuries to come. It could be heavily traced back four hundred years after the sixteenth century in art by comparing it with the Mannerism movement. This carried the Renaissance ideas by using rich colours and enhanced the use of religious subjects. It is important to think like the artists did then in today’s society because we can learn lessons from them such as connecting art with the public’s ideas in order to make positivity desirable.  

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

so, aside from having some great lines in this piece. I love the slight glimpses we get at Giovanni through it. That he clearly wrote to Ficino saying "my brother/cousin/whoever is PISSED because so-and-so insulted him" speaks to their intimacy, that Giovanni turns to Marsilio when there is family strife over something (they do this mutually - Ficino also writes Giovanni when Ficino's nephews have got their knickers in a twist about life being trouble sometimes).

But the line wherein Ficino says "You will perhaps say that it is difficult not to desire vengeance" always gives me a vibe of Gio as being a bit hot headed and argumentative.

Obviously, the "you will say X which is in opposition to my point" is a rhetorical tool in writing to allow you to further shore up your own argument. And 100% that is what Ficino is doing.

HOWEVER, I choose to believe that had this convo been in person it would have gone something like this:

Giovanni: My brother Lorenzo is ready to kill Domenico over what he said after mass last week and honestly? He should.

Marsilio: I council patience, forbearance, and forgiveness.

Giovanni: great. and I hear you. But have you thought about vengeance?

Marsilio: absolutely not.

Giovanni: but maybe Lore and I could have some vengeance? ... ,,, as a treat for us? just a little. we won't kill anyone--

Marsilio: VANNINO! No murder.

Giovanni: we'd just rough him up! and only a little! I promise I won't start a cycle of vendetta which will inevitably lead to the ruin of all parties involved, including our decedents.

Marsilio:

Marsilio: no.

Giovanni: you are No Fun.

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Ok, ok, I would appreciate thoughts.

Most of this context setting stuff most will know, but I'm including it anyway. Question is down below, bolded:

So, The Magi is to take place in late 1478, I'm trying to determine what Ficino and Cavalcanti's relationship would have looked like at that time.

Ficino has been a priest for four years, now, as he is 44 in '78 and was ordained in '74 when he was 40 (an unusually late time in life to turn priest). Giovanni is 34. Ficino wrote in a letter kept in the front of the original manuscript of De Amore that he had lived 34 years without knowing true love until he met Giovanni, so he, at least, has been in love with the man for ten years at this point. They've known each other for longer, though.

(Corsi says they've known each other since Gio was 3, but that's apocryphal and rings hollow to me. It seems more likely they first met when Gio was 18/19/20-ish since Domenico Galletti, the man tutoring Gio, used to tutor Ficino and they had remained friends.)

The problem is that Giovanni is such a ghost.

In 1478 through 79 and even into 80, they were living off and on with each other, at least based on the larger than normal volume of joint letters sent from both of them. We also know Ficino wrote quite a bit of Platonic Theology, among a few other works, at Rignano at this time, which is where Cavalcanti's country home was located.

Then there are joint letters from both Celle and Careggi - so Giovanni was staying with Ficino at the house/smallhold that Cosimo gifted him in Careggi and also the family farm down in Celle.

Ficino's calling to the priesthood was earnest and true, I believe. I also agree with Peter Serracino-Inglott in his essay "Ficino the Priest" where he argues that Ficino would have viewed priesthood as the natural culmination of his being both doctor and philosopher, as well as a means to try and understand himself/doctor heal thyself sort of thing (in terms of his mental health, at least).

From the essay:

And Ficino took his calling very seriously. He attended to the more clerical duties, the boring chore-like ones that most priests would pass off onto others. No, those Ficino would see to himself. It speaks to a quality of his person.

Now, Giovanni was a statesman and politician. Second son of four boys, he was born to an old, aristocratic family which had its own political ups and downs. They had been exiled due to their Anti-Medician sympathies, yet Cosimo was the one who refranchised them and welcomed them back into the Florentine political scene.

Giovanni doesn't really kick start his career until his 40s, not unusual in Florence at that time. Those in government felt men in their 20s and early 30s were all idiots and generally not to be trusted with more senior, serious positions in government (Medici exceptionalism aside). Those in government weren't, necessarily, wrong about men in their 20s and early 30s. Who isn't an idiot at 25?

So in 1478, at 34, Giovanni wasn't yet holding senior or strenuous offices in government and therefore had more free-time on his hands. He was clearly palling around with the Platonic-circle of the Florentine humanist scene since Landino and Poliziano both consider him to be a good friend and a clear, regular attendee to whatever soirees and Platonic parties/dinners that were being held. He doesn't seem to have been close to Luigi Pulci and his crew, since Marsilio complains to Giovanni about how much he hates Gigi and the progress of the Great War Over Lorenzo's Patronage.

Around this time as well, we know he had his third daughter (he had four in total, no sons). Unclear if there was a wife or if it was with a mistress. I suspect a wife, since he was keen for a son which implies the boy would have been a proper heir.

I do not get the sense that he was a particularly devoted or besotted father or husband/lover. Ficino mentions the third daughter's birth and is basically like "a) why didn't you tell me? and b) I know you wanted a son but rejoice regardless because children are good and daughters are gifts from god too" (yay 15th century misogyny)

We have letters from Ficino to friends who were clearly much more devoted fathers and husbands and he will make mention of his friend's children and such. He would reflect the level of care and love that person shows to their family back at them. This doesn't happen with Giovanni.

Granted, Ficino was clearly an over-thinker and probably prone to being nervous about whether or not Giovanni loved him. There's a sense of insecurity that comes through the letters.

The one letter from Gio to Ficino that Ficino printed is very even in tone, very calming. I think Giovanni was the grounded, earthy person to Ficino's madness.

We also know that Giovanni borrowed books regularly from Ficino and seemed infamous in not returning them in a reasonable time-frame. Ficino wrote his more dangerous political complaints to Giovanni about Lorenzo and literally no one else.

(I suspect he would verbally complain to Bernardo Bembo, but he didn't write to him on it.)

Ficino also wrote to Cavalcanti about his medical problems more than anyone else. I think the other person who gets the regular Marsilio Ficino Health Updates is Bernardo Bembo, who was one of his favourite correspondents/friends after Giovanni so that makes sense.

Giovanni knew Ficino well, was the one who seemed to be able to leverage Marsilio out of his deeper depressions. He also seemed perfectly comfortable pushing back on Ficino - something we see in the one letter from him that is printed and also something Ficino references in letters to Gio.

He was not a consistent correspondent. Was this just with Ficino or was it an across-the-board thing? Maybe he just wasn't a letter writer. If it's just Ficino was it because Ficino wrote 500 letters a minute to people or because there was a lack of warmth or, perhaps, too many feelings? (Thinking of Darcy here, if I felt less I would speak more.)

That said, he clearly expected regular correspondence from Ficino and would pester him when he didn't get his due.

He seemed to have had a bit of a temper and maybe a personality that bore grudges and grievances--maybe for himself, maybe just on behalf of others. Marsilio wrote him that big long letter on why Vengeance is Bad Giovanni, Tell Your Cousin to Calm Down.

That said, Ficino valued his opinion and when he wrote letters to people that might have been a bit savage he asked Giovanni to vet them and make sure he wasn't about to piss someone off too much. So Gio had political acuity and a sense of tact that Ficino might have been aware was not his strongest suit, personally. Giovanni also turned to him for advice, so it was a mutual thing of turning to each other when they know the other would have valuable insight.

Giovanni was a bit of a sportsman, it seems. Certainly jousted and did sword play. So he was classically trained as a landed gentleman in that regard alongside his stellar education.

He might have been poetic. We know he was a good public speaker, this is mentioned by people other than Ficino. He is just as well read as Ficino on all things Platonic and Greek and esoteric. Ficino references the conversations they have and the topics are all over the place. Unclear if he was musical or not. Ficino doesn't mention it, and so I suspect not. If Cavalcanti had played an instrument Ficino would be in seventh heaven about it.

-------

All of this leads me to: What was their relationship??

Was it physical or not? Was it returned in equal measure or not? Were they an old married couple or not? Did they go back/forth on these things?

I can see Ficino being very conflicted - not that their love was bad or anything (Ficino did not believe any love that was good in intent could ever be bad. He was "love is love" before that was a thing), but wanting that pure Platonic, non-physical love since he thought that was the ideal for all forms of love. Man to man, woman to woman, man to woman - the ideal love was non-physical.

At the same time, Ficino thought physical desire was helpful in understanding Beauty which would lead a man to Truth then to God. So he really was trying to reconcile these things and struggling. He wanted his love for Giovanni to meet his ideal and he kept having those annoying, distracting bodily desires!

But what were Giovanni's views on all of this? Did he align with Marsilio or did he have different thoughts? If he differed I doubt he would have hidden it - they seemed very comfortable disagreeing with one another. Though Marsilio seems the one more willing to capitulate on things. Did they argue about how they thought they should be performing their love? What shifted, if anything, after Marsilio was ordained? Did the uncertainty of the Pazzi Conspiracy and subsequent Pazzi wars bring them closer together? Put a strain on them? I need to know~~~~~~

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Giovanni Cavalcanti for the character ask game?? I so want to hear your thoughts on him!

Oh he's hard, because we have so little on him. Basically, he shows up in legal documents and records from time to time and then we have Ficino's letters, but I can't locate any extant poetry, for example. And we know he was a poet. He had four daughters who survived him but I couldn't tell you for certain if he was married or if they were by a mistress. (I suspect he was married, because when Ficino passive aggressively mentions the birth of Gio's third daughter it's way more "you didn't tell me she was born, what gives?" and less "you're living in sin and your mistress had another child I see".)

But I'll do what I can!

First impression

I was of the same mindset that a lot of people are under which is that it was a one sided thing and Ficino just had it bad for this other man who wasn't feeling it to the same degree.

Otherwise, I didn't have much of a strong impression because he's so absent from the historic record - so far as I can see. I would love to get into the archives over in Florence and her environs to see what can be found on Ficino's Giovanni Cavalcanti. But from what I have found, there just isn't much on him that survived.

Impression now

Having been deep in the Ficino world, and looking at the broader context of the letter we do have, also how other people clearly viewed them (Bernardo Bembo, for example), I'm much more inclined to think there was deep mutual love and that Cavalcanti was as devoted to Ficino as Ficino was to him. They certainly spent a lot of time living together, or close enough, that they were writing letters to people on behalf of both of them. Ficino also wrote portions of his Platonic Theology at Cavalcanti's villa in Rignano.

We know he was a statesman and was one of the Florentines to go see Charles in the 1494 when the French king was sitting pretty outside the gates of Florence. (Ficino also might have been there? Also Savonarola? Piero Soderini certainly was. It would have been such a weird group of people.) He also jousted at Lorenzo's coming of age hoopla. A relative of his was in the cathedral during the Pazzi conspiracy and was one of the ones to help Lorenzo to safety. Giovanni was also a poet - though I haven't seen any of his poetry/not sure if any survived.

I get the sense that Giovanni was always the more grounded one to Ficino's flights of high emotion and spirit. Ficino was very high/low or sometimes a mix of both at once, and Giovanni always gives me the vibe that he was far more level and even keeled.

Overall, I think he was likely a clever, intelligent man (since Ficino thought so, and Ficino could be savage in his opinion when he wanted to be) who was quite devoted to Ficino but was more worldly and grounded. He was the one who took care of day to day affairs and dealt with interpersonal politics and made sure when Ficino was going off on someone the letters that were actually sent were the nice version and not the "I am ANNOYED" version. I think he also likely had a poetic aspect to him and certainly wrote enough poetry for Ficino to label him a poet before anything else. (E.g., poet oh and yes, also a statesman/politician)

I don't think Giovanni was really deep in the Florentine political scene. He held minor positions here and there, but didn't really get anything good until the 1490s (post Lorenzo's death, I might note). I think this is particularly to do with age - Florence preferred to send older men on diplomatic missions and Cavalcanti was in his fifties by the 1490s but also possibly to do with the fact that Cavalcanti came from a family that had its fair share of Medici critics. (Also atheists. They were an interestingly radical family for landed aristocracy.) Cavalcanti was also Ficino's closest friend, obviously, and considering the coolness between Ficino and Lorenzo that might have impacted Cavalcanti's career considering the ballot box was a rouse and everyone knew real appointments came from Lorenzo.

Favorite moment

I would have loved to have heard Cavalcanti and Ficino's hot takes on the delegation to Charles VIII in 1494. I bet they were fantastically derisive and I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that.

I also love that Cavalcanti was the one who vetted Ficino's letters when Ficino was worried he might be writing too harshly. All the moments where Ficino is like "read what I've attached and if you think it's alright, please go ahead and send it. If it's not, let me know and I'll tone it down a few notches."

Giovanni just like, "You've called Gigi a cunt in this one, Marsilio. You can't do that in a letter to Giuliano de' Medici. No matter that it would make Giuliano laugh."

Ficino, "I hear you, Vannino, but have you considered that he is a cunt? Have you taken that fact into account?'

Giovanni gently pushing the letter into Ficino's hands, "Fix it. You need to fix it."

Also, I love that Giovanni jousted at Lorenzo's coming of age party. I bet he was very dashing and I want to know how he did. I choose to believe that he secretly wore Ficino's favour somewhere in his armour. Hidden from view and all that.

Lorenzo sees it, "I am 0% shocked."

Giovanni, "Look. It brought me good luck ok?"

Lorenzo, "I'm not judging. I'm just finding this all immensely entertaining. Prudish little Marsilio and his dashing knight."

Giovanni, "Please leave before I follow in my ancestor's footsteps and declare myself anti-Medici."

Lorenzo, "You also going to be an ashiest like your ancestor did? The one Dante chucked in hell in his Inferno. Your Marsilio might have a hard time with that one."

Giovanni, "Get out, Lorenzo."

Idea for a story

I would love the Pazzi conspiracy from Giovanni's perspective. It's mostly him having 500 panic attacks about Marsilio's life choices. I also want to know who the Cavalcanti was that protected Lorenzo and how he is related to Giovanni. I presume brother or cousin.

I'm fiddling away on something that takes place in this time period, but so far Ficino's a POV as is Lorenzo and a woman named Fiorina who wants to resurrect her sister-in-law for Reasons of Love/Grief. Giovanni has yet to surface as one. We will see if he does.

I would also be curious to have the Savonarola Time from Giovanni's perspective. He came from a bit of a radical-minded family that was prone to some potentially heretical/suspicious views. I have this feeling, not based on anything other than one line in a letter he sent to Marsilio, that he was just as Into the pagan stuff as Ficino was. If not more so.** We know Savonarola was suspicious of Ficino and questioned his loyalty to the church and I can see him extending that to others in Ficino's personal circle. Also, Savonarola was very concerned about sodomy in Florence and Ficino's circle did have a certain reputation...

(It's the "By Hercules" line in his letter to Ficino telling him that he's certain Saturn isn't out to get Marsilio and he can calm down and maybe reposition the planet's role and symbolism in his head. Ficino doesn't use the pagan gods and figures in that manner. He believes in them, in his own way, but he doesn't call on them like that. And this wasn't quite the time when that was a norm for letter writing. Like 19th century By Jove and what have you. I know it's weak reasoning but eh.)

Unpopular opinion

Only unpopular with those fools who haven't obsessively deep dived on Ficino and Cavalcanti and don't Understand them, clearly, but obviously it was not one sided! There are a few historians who are like "clearly unrequited love" and I'm like "not sure what you're looking at but it seems pretty requited to me."

I've nattered on before about the nature of the letter collection of Ficino's - but it's highly curated and meant for philosophical edification. It's not personal, every day correspondence. It's all the stuff he wrote in Latin as formal Intellectual Correspondence. Not the Tuscan personal stuff (e.g., letters to his parents consoling them on the death of one of his brothers; basically every letter ever sent to his family and friends that wasn't Here Are My Thoughts on Plato, the Soul, and Music). We also only have one side of the correspondence. The only letter we have from Gio to Marsilio is that wonderful one wherein Giovanni tells Marsilio that Saturn isn't out to get him then tells him to write a hymn to Saturn to beg forgiveness for placing blame of his mental health on the planet.

They're weird, your honour, and I love them.

But we know that everyone viewed them as connected at the hip (love that Bernardo Bembo essentially wrote a letter to Ficino where he clearly was like: so you and Giovanni eh?? and Ficino replied: HOW DID YOU KNOW???). Very much they were considered a bit of a unit, which speaks volumes. We know they lived together frequently for long durations. Wrote joint letters like a married couple. Giovanni was one of the executors Ficino appointed for his will. Clearly turned to one another for advice on handling difficult situations. Ficino dedicated so many books to Giovanni. Giovanni clearly knew how to handle Ficino in his mad moments and how to help him through them which speaks to great, long-term intimacy. Giovanni is the one Marsilio trusts enough to write his rather scathing views of Medici rule to, knowing the letters won't fall into the wrong hands. etc.

Whatever their relationship was between the two of them (physical? purely emotional and intellectual? some variation between? something else entirely?), it was certainly deep and I think shared equally on both sides.

Favorite relationship

Ficino, obvs.

I would be curious to know more about his friendships with Bernardo Bembo and Angelo Poliziano - because he regularly commends himself to them whenever Ficino is writing to them. So I wish we had some insight into those.

I also wish we had insight into his familial relationships. He was the second of four sons - not sure if he had sisters. He was a father to four daughters. But what those relationships looked like, we have no clue.

Favorite headcanon

Hahahah I mean, everything I have written is idle speculation. I really like head-cannoning that he was a proper poet and wrote long epic poetry about Florence's history. He holes up at his family estate, or if there's too many people there, rides out to Ficino's farm in Celle where he can isolate and Compose His Masterpiece. Ficino rolls up like, "ah I see this is why you haven't replied to my letters. You weren't even at home."

I also headcannon that he would compose songs for Ficino to sing - since we know Ficino was a musician with an apparently very pleasant voice - and Ficino would oblige him, even if they weren't in the style of the Orphic hymns that he preferred.

Oh also, 100% Cavalcanti would fight anyone who made fun of Ficino's slight stutter. Like, he would throw down in a heartbeat.

Angelo Poliziano: Piero I wouldn't make fun of Marsilio's stutter were I you.

Random Piero: Why not?

Angelo: Because Giovanni will hear you and then you'll die and that would be unfortunate.

Piero: Cavalcanti's not even in Florence.

Lorenzo: That has never stopped him before.

Piero: Surely you would prevent him, I mean Marsilio's not even in your favour since you think he knew about the Pazzi plot.

Lorenzo: hmmmmm bold of you to make so many assumptions. Also I don't think Marsilio knew, I am dead certain he knew. But my grandfather's ghost would gut me in the middle of the night if I did anything to his favourite protégée.

Giovanni shows up: Alright, which mother fucker is making fun of Ficino today?

Piero: How did you do that?? You were in another city??

Angelo: Don't say I didn't warn you.

-----

Thank you!! I love these two and talking about them <3 <3 <3

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Have some more bits from The Magi. Or, Ficino rambles for five pages in a letter and Cavalcanti is trying to keep him from dying.

~~~

Marsilio Ficino to his most unique friend Giovanni Cavalcanti: Greetings

Father died in March and I cannot help but I feel I owe him a book. I have dedicated many to you, my dearest Vannino, my Hero (I thank God daily that in his wisdom he made us for one another). Others I have dedicated to Lorenzo the younger, out of love for him, naturally, but also out of the love I bore and bear for his grandfather. Others and others, I’ll not list everyone. Kings! Popes! Wisest of friends!

Get to the point, Marsilio, I hear you say.

In my mind’s eye you are in our secret oak grove. The one with the tree that has twisted itself into a knot which we’ve named Diana after the great huntress. Sometimes, I call the tree Venus, for what I assume must be obvious reasons. But! my Vannino is in his pretty blue set—the one with the silver buttons on the doublet which has collar and cuffs pricked out with leaves of gold. Your Court Suit, as you call it. You’re looking remarkably handsome and seated on a heavy brocade blanket reading Ovid. Maybe Virgil. You have both with you—there, I’ve resolved it.

Above you a spotless sky, the sun shining brighter than Orpheus’ genius or Plato’s light. (Tell neither I said so.) Your hair has gone that pretty autumnal auburn it becomes when you are much on horseback or walking the hills with your Marsilio. At your hand a cup of wine. Something leathery and dark that Dante would have had. Maybe it is a varietal he might have shared with your ancestor Guido.

You are thus, in my mind, and I am telling you all this and you say: Marsilio, Marsilio, you’ve come away again from your point.

What is my point?

Nothing so grand as to warrant this letter but as you are in Florence and I am in Celle, where I have been since April, I must write it all down. I’m driving my father’s hounds mad, I make them come with me when I walk the hills and I’ve been doing a good amount of walking.

I suppose, the hounds are mine, since my father left me the majority of his estate, large, hairy Bruno and Orpho included. My brothers have written me about the issue of the houses and how they feel a little done-over by our father. It will come to more legal trouble. Arcangelo is so swift to jump into the lap of a lawyer he hardly waits for me to reply to say: very well, take this place or that. I wish to keep our father’s property at Celle. My place near Careggi, thankfully, was made over formally to me many years back. Arcangelo and Danielo can argue and feud over the place in the city and that one that is down in Gaville. My father’s ill thought-out olive venture which ate into half the estate. I’m still clearing the ledger of his life, so to speak. My mother frets. She came in only an hour ago to say to me, ‘Marsilio, if Angelo is to have the house in Florence I could not abide to live there for I cannot be under the same roof as his wife Julia.’

‘You are free to stay here or at Careggi. Wherever you would most be comfortable,’ I replied.

‘But I would be most comfortable in the city.’

‘No matter, I will let a house there.’

‘Your father left you our home.’

‘Father didn’t want to bother to properly divvy up his property fairly so left it all to me as the easiest thing to do, therefore it is fair that I divide it amongst my brothers.’

Alright, I didn’t say out loud that last line. I simply said that I sympathise with my brothers—how must it look to them? The one son who has no wife, children, nor dependents gets everything. It would grate the most patient and kind-hearted of men.

Marsilio Ficino, you cry, Get to the point! I’ve no time for your dithering.

(I know my actual Vannino would not be so harsh. He would be kind. But, I know you have some frustrations with my foibles, thankfully patience for them as well.)

My point.

Plague is here. We are all miserably aware of this. I mean to write a treatise on how to protect oneself from it and how to take care should one become so afflicted. I will dedicate it to my father Diotifeci and hope that he finds pleasure in it and looks on it, with his spirit’s eye, fondly.

Perhaps it is for the best that he died when he did. He would have died of worry, otherwise, because of the fall out from the cruel, pointless foolishness of those who I hoped would, at the last gasp, see sense. Perhaps that was foolish of me.

This leads me to my second point: If you think it wise, please send my love to Lorenzo. Tell him his brother is in my prayers every day. Also, that Giuliano’s untimely death should not be carried as a loadstone in his chest. I know what it is to lose someone senselessly and without warning. Lorenzo should look to the future of our beloved Republic and act in her best interest—that is the best and finest way to honour Giuliano’s memory. (Add that it would also spite the Medici opponents and rivals, if you think it would be received as a gentle jest from Lorenzo.)

Live justly, openly, honestly, and with Christian forgiveness.

However, if you think it unwise to pass on my love to him, say nothing. Or, at least, say very little on my behalf.

Between you and I, Lorenzo is killing us all because of love. Senseless! Senseless!

La—now, I’ve gone and written something you must burn. Just as well I end here, my mother has come to say that there is a man here asking to see me. That he wishes to discuss both my father and Hermes. Most strange. But, I must away.

My love for you never diminishes, you are my soul’s other half and I yours. Write me when you are able. Give my love to Poliziano and Landino, should you see them. And your brother Lenzo, of course.

Come to me in Celle, my Vannino. I miss you more than a starving man misses bread.

San Leo a Celle, October 1478

Addendum: The man was not a friend of my father’s, as I had presumed. He wished to discuss Hermes and Picatrix. I may need to return to Florence, briefly, to collect my copy as I do not have him with me here and I wish to check a few points.

~~~~~~~~~

Giovanni Cavalcanti to his Marsilio Ficino: Greetings

Marsilio, if you come within ten miles of Florence I will have heart failure. You will, by that act alone, be the death of your Vannino and neither of us wish for that. Tell me where you’ve hidden your little, illicit magic book and I will send it to you. Or, perhaps, bring it to you myself should my business here wrap up swiftly.

On no account, Marsilio Ficino, are you to come here.

My brother saw Lorenzo just last evening and Lorenzo said to him: How is our little Platonist?

Well, I’ve heard. Handling his father’s estate out near Figline.

I suppose I will have to resolve that issue.

When I saw him three days back he asked: Tell me again how it was that our Marsilio should be out of the city when the Pazzi so heinously murdered my brother? Know you an answer to that riddle, Giovanni?

I just smiled. Which is always my answer when Lorenzo stares at me and asks me difficult questions.

God help me, Marsilio, the things I will do for you.

Florence, October 1478

NB: I found your Picatrix stashed in a secret place with little intimacies I’ve sent you. You fly close to the sun, my Icarus. Please remember the lesson we are to take away from that!