Ficino’s Marginal Notes on Proclus's Commentary on the Timaeus (Florence, Biblioteca Riccardiana, MS 24)

• In Event: Ficino II: Ficino’s Methods of Composition

Abstract

The Timaeus was not only the most read and discussed work by Plato, it was also the dialogue which most affected the systematisation of Platonic thought and its reception over the centuries. This paper will focus on Ficino's marginalia in MS. Riccardianus 24, which preserves Proclus' commentary on the Timaeus. After an initial overview of these notes, this paper will linger on some of them which are particularly significant in order to examine the various suggestions Ficino received from his reading of Proclus' commentary. Finally, it will show how Ficino used significant passages of this text in fundamental works such as his Platonic Theology and, more importantly, his own Commentary on the Timaeus, which drawns heavily on that of Proclus.

Author

• Valerio Sanzotta, Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Neo-Latin Studies