This session will explore some examples of artistic and scholarly interaction between Byzantium and Rome in the 15th century. As far as the artistic aspect is concerned, it will be presented how Byzantine icons permeated the Roman context in the second half of the fifteenth century, both in the spiritual and the temporal spheres. In addition, it will be shown how Byzantine binding techniques were applied to Greek manuscripts in Rome via the alla greca technique. In the textual and intellectual aspects, some speakers will explore the new ways of translating Greek texts into Latin especially at the courts of Pope Nicolas V and Sixtus IV by Theodorus Gaza, Niccolò Perotti, and Bessarion.
This contribution aims to investigate how Byzantine icons permeated the Roman context in the second half of the fifteenth century, both in the spiritual and the temporal spheres. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 marked a turning point; however, even before that date, Byzantine works—mainly manuscripts and sacred objects—had already reached the West. In Rome,…
Theodore Gaza (1408/10–1475)—one of the most important Byzantine Greek émigrés to 15th-century Italy and one of the most notable scholarly personalities at the papal court of Nicholas V in Rome—is particularly renowned for his activity as a translator of scientific and technical literature. His extensive work in this field is highlighted by his Latin translations…
In 1450, the humanist Niccolò Perotti, active within the Roman circle of Cardinal Bessarion, produced the first Latin translation of Epictetus’ Encheiridion and of the preface to Simplicius’ commentary, which he dedicated to Pope Nicholas V. This version, never printed, remained virtually unknown to the humanist public until Angelo Poliziano’s translation in 1479. In his…
Among the protagonists in the season of translations from Greek into Latin promoted in Rome by Pope Nicholas V, Theodore Gaza undoubtedly stands out. Gaza’s academic interests ranged from poetry to medicine and even included Aristotelian botany and zoology. A “secondary” product, somewhat derivative, of Peripatetic philosophy are the physical-natural questions known as Problemata. In…
The reception of Greek authors in the 15th century was also made possible thanks to the Latin versions that started at the beginning of the century in the circle of Manuel Chrysoloras and continued in the following decades, taking on a programmatic character in Rome under Pope Nicholas V. The Pope sponsored the translation of…