Andreolo Giustiniani (1385/921456) was an

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...

, literary

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

, and writer of the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

Life

Giustianiani was a native of

Chios Chios (; , traditionally known as Scio in English) is the fifth largest Greece, Greek list of islands of Greece, island, situated in the northern Aegean Sea, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, tenth largest island in the Medi ...

, when the island was still part of the

Republic of Genoa The Republic of Genoa ( ; ; ) was a medieval and early modern Maritime republics, maritime republic from the years 1099 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italy, Italian coast. During the Late Middle Ages, it was a major commercial power in ...

. His family, the

Giustiniani The House of Giustinian or Giustiniani was a prominent Italian family which originally belonged to Venice, but also established itself in Genoa, and at various times had representatives in Naples, Canary Islands, Corsica and in the islands of the ...

family, were lords of the island. He lived his entire life in Chios. His nephew was

Agostino Giustiniani Agostino Giustiniani (born Pantaleone Giustiniani; 1470 - 1536) was an Italian Catholic bishop, linguist and geographer. Biography Giustiniani was born at Genoa into a noble Giustiniani family. His father had been ambassador of the Republic of ...

, bishop and intellectual of

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 ...

. He was the son of Niccolò Giustiniani and Brancaleona Grimaldi Banca, both members of the Genoese nobility. Through his mother, he was a member of the Banca noble family. Giustianiani was a member of the

Maona of Chios and Phocaea Maona of Chios and Phocaea (; 1346–1566) was a maona formed to exact taxes for the Republic of Genoa from the island of Chios and port of Phocaea. Genoa sold the rights to their taxes to the maona, which raised funds from its investors to buy ga ...

Collecting and patronage

Giustianiani was an avid collector of ancient marble sculpture and amassed a substantial library, reportedly of over 2000 works (although Basso suggests that this figure is probably inflated). Giustiniani was a patron of

Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli Ciriaco is a male given name in Italian language, Italian () and Spanish language, Spanish (). In Portuguese, it's spelled Ciríaco (). It derives from the Greeks, Greek given name Κυριακός (also Κυριάκος) which means ''of the Lord ...

and a number of Flemish artists. His friends and correspondents included

Ambrogio Traversari Ambrogio Traversari, also referred to as Ambrose of Camaldoli (138620 October 1439), was an Italian monk and theologian who was a prime supporter of the papal cause in the 15th century. He is honored as a saint by the Camaldolese Order. Biography ...

, ,

Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (; 11 February 1380 – 30 October 1459), usually referred to simply as Poggio Bracciolini, was an Italian scholar and an early Renaissance humanism, Renaissance humanist. He is noted for rediscovering and recove ...

and Niccolò Niccoli. Traversari's translation of the works of

Aeneas of Gaza Aeneas of Gaza (; d. ) was a Neo-Platonic philosopher and a convert to Christianity who flourished towards the end of the fifth century. He is considered part of the Rhetorical School of Gaza, which flourished in Byzantine Palaestina in the fif ...

is dedicated to Giustiniani.

Writing

Giustianiani's works include ''Relazione dell'attacco e difesa di Scio'', a poem about

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

's siege of Chios in 1431, which he wrote at the request of his friend Giacomo Bracelli. The poem uses used epic language inspired by the works of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

and

Ariosto Ludovico Ariosto (, ; ; 8 September 1474 – 6 July 1533) was an Italian poet. He is best known as the author of the romance epic '' Orlando Furioso'' (1516). The poem, a continuation of Matteo Maria Boiardo's ''Orlando Innamorato'', describ ...

Life

Collecting and patronage

Writing

Notes

References

Bibliography

Further reading