FRANCESCO DI ANTONIO DEL CHIERICO
(b. 1433, d. 1484, Firenze)

Cristoforo Landino: Disputationes camaldulenses

1472-73
Manuscript (Urb. lat. 508)
Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican

This manuscript contains the Disputationes by Cristoforo Landino (1424-1492) who was an important exponent of Florentine Neoplatonism. The work was composed in 1472 and consists of a series of conversations held at Camaldoli between the author, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Leon Battista Alberti and Marsilio Ficino, concerning the active and contemplative life. The manuscript in the Vatican is the dedication copy for Federico da Montefeltro (1421-1482). It was illuminated by Francesco d'Antonio del Chierico.

The leaf illustrated here is glued to the inside binding of the manuscript and is not thought to have formed part of it originally. On stylistic grounds scholars consider this miniature to be also the work of the decorator of the main manuscript, Francesco d'Antonio del Chierico, others attribute it to the sculptor and illuminator Francesco di Giorgio Martini.

The miniature shows Federico da Montefeltro on the left, and the portrait of the author or the illuminator on the right.