Carlo Marsuppini (1399–1453), also known as Carlo Aretino and Carolus Arretinus, was an Italian Renaissance humanist and

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the Florentine Republic.

Biography

Marsuppini was born in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

into a family from

Arezzo Arezzo ( , ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of Above mean sea level, above sea level. As of 2 ...

, but grew up and died in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

. His father, Gregorio Marsuppini, had been governor of Genoa under Charles VI of France. Carlo was closely allied with the Medici family, and was a tutor to Lorenzo di Giovanni di Medici during the 1420s. Circa 1433, he loitered in brief exile in Verona with Lorenzo and Cosimo di Medici. In 1444, he followed Leonardo Bruni as chancellor of the Republic of

, with whom he shares the honor of a monument, designed by the sculptor Desiderio da Settignano, in the church of Santa Croce. Poggio Bracciolini became chancellor after Carlo's death. Upon the death of his father Gregorio in 1444, Carlo commissioned from the painter Filippo Lippi an altarpiece for a memorial to be placed in the church of the Olivetan Convent at Arezzo. The altarpiece depicts the '' Coronation of the Virgin, with St. John and St. Benedict'' (called '' Marsuppini Coronation'', now in Rome, Pinacoteca Vaticana. He was a man of great culture, the author of letters and some poems. Among his works: a ''Consolatio'' of noteworthy Christian inspiration (which contrasts with his reputation for unbelief) upon the death of Piccarda de' Bueri (1368 to 1433), addressed to her sons Cosimo dei Medici and Lorenzo.

Pope Nicholas V Pope Nicholas V (; ; 15 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV made him a Cardinal (Catholic Chu ...

instructed him in 1452 to translate

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

's ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

'' into Latin; however he died with much of the work incomplete. There also remain some "belles-lettres" in the Humanist genre, such as a translation of the '' Batracomyomachia'', and solemn Latin poetry. Two sons of Carlo Marsuppini, Cristoforo and Carlo (junior) appear as characters in the ''Commentarium in Convivium Platonis de Amore'' (“Commentary on Plato’s ''Symposium''”) by Marsilio Ficino. Among Carlo's pupils was Giovanni Forteguerri of Pistoia. Marsuppini was posthumously crowned poet laureate; his eulogy was read by Matteo Palmieri.

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsuppini, Carlo 1399 births 1453 deaths Politicians from Florence Italian Renaissance humanists 15th-century people from the Republic of Florence Translators of Homer