Il ruolo del monachesimo benedettino nel platonismo cristiano del Rinascimento

Beginning with an examination of some of the most recent directions of research within the humanistic-renaissance philosophical culture, this study examines two terms that shaped the entire civilization of the Italian Renaissance. These terms reveal not only the integration of some monastic circles in the process of humanistic renewal, but also the strong demand observed within them to construct a specifically Christian humanism: the theme of constructing a ‘Christian Plato’ and the theme of dignitas hominis. In the case of interpreting the platonic tradition in a key of prefiguring Christianity, a decisive role is a assumed by the Vitae philosophorum of Diogenes Laertius, completed in 1433 by the Camaldolese monk, Ambrogio Traversari. Very important, regarding the development of a Christian view of the typical renaissance theme of the dignity of man, is the contribution of the monk of the Abbey of Monte Oliveto, Antonio da Barga.