A Humanist Observed: Francesco Ciceri as a Commentator of Classics

During the early modern period, there was a general rebirth of interest in all things classical. Latin commentaries of ancient texts were principally responsible for introducing classical works into the high culture of Western Europe. My study focuses on an unedited and little-known Latin commentary on Isocrates’ orations Helenae laudatio and Evagoras, which is preserved in the manuscript Wolf. 4262. This hitherto neglected codex is especially interesting because of the commentary it contains, since it appears to be amongst the first ever made of these two Greek orations. It dates back to the last quarter of the 16th century and was copied by the humanist Francesco Ciceri (1527-1596). He was a renowned professor of rhetoric and ancient languages at the Palatine Schools in Milan. Many of the exegetical materials ascribable to him and mostly linked to his teaching activity lie unexplored in Renaissance manuscripts. By examining his commentary on Isocrates, I will shed light on its significance for the reception and interpretation of the ancient Greek rhetor in 16th-century Italy.

ORCID: https://orcid.org/my-orcid?orcid=0000-0002-6305-6912

University of Siena: https://en.unisi.it/ugov/person/293299

University of Grenoble: https://elan.gricad-pages.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/translatoscope/about