Cristoforo Landino

Cristoforo Landino was a Florentine humanist and one of the leading cultural figures of Renaissance Florence. He belonged to the Platonic Academy around Marsilio Ficino and acted as a bridge between classical Latin scholarship and the Italian vernacular.

He was born in Florence around 1424, though some sources give 1425. He first studied law and Greek, but against his father's wishes he turned away from a legal career to study philosophy, a choice supported by Piero de' Medici. In 1458 he succeeded Cristoforo Marsuppini as chair of rhetoric and poetry at the Florentine Studio. His students, who wanted a more renowned teacher, initially opposed the appointment, but he became an essential part of the city's intellectual life. He tutored Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici and also held public office.

His writings include philosophical dialogues such as De anima and De vera nobilitate, Latin poetry and letters. In the Disputationes camaldulenses several humanists weigh the merits of the active and the contemplative life. He championed the use of Italian as a language of learning, and his commentaries on the Aeneid and the Divine Comedy, together with his translation of Pliny's Natural History, brought the classics and Dante to readers who did not read Latin easily. He died in 1498 at a property near Florence. His influence can be seen in pupils such as Poliziano and in the humanist reading of Italian texts.