Cosimo Bartoli (December 20, 1503 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 ...

– October 25, 1572) was an Italian diplomat, mathematician,

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

, and

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 ...

. He worked and lived in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

and took minor orders. He was a friend of architect and writer

Giorgio Vasari Giorgio Vasari (30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance painter, architect, art historian, and biographer who is best known for his work ''Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'', considered the ideol ...

, and helped him to get his '' Vite'' ready for publication.Miller

Life

Bartoli worked in diplomatic circles, including as secretary to Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici and as diplomatic agent for Duke Cosimo I. Bartoli wrote ''Ragionamenti accademici'' (Venice, 1567), which was mainly a criticism 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 ...

. One chapter, however, gave descriptions of composers and instrumentalists. He cited the composers Johannes Ockeghem and

Josquin des Prez Josquin Lebloitte dit des Prez ( – 27 August 1521) was a composer of High Renaissance music, who is variously described as French or Franco-Flemish. Considered one of the greatest composers of the Renaissance, he was a central figure of the ...

as equal to

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

in their respective arts, and stated that Ockeghem and Donatello were the precursors to Josquin and Michelangelo. In this book he also critiques architecture and painting, mainly focusing on the arts of his native Florence. He extolled the concept of ''invenzione'' in all the arts.

Works

* He also published a collection of translations of works by

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti (; 14 February 1404 – 25 April 1472) was an Italian Renaissance humanist author, artist, architect, poet, Catholic priest, priest, linguistics, linguist, philosopher, and cryptography, cryptographer; he epitomised the natu ...

under the title ''Opuscoli Morali di Leon Batista Alberti, gentil’huomo firentino''. Venice, 1568. These included: *''Momo, ovvero del Principe'' *''De’ discorsi de senatori, altrimenti Trivia'' *''Dell’amministrare la regione'' *''Delle commodità e delle incommodità delle lettere'' *''Della vita di S. Potito'' * ''La cifra'' *''Le piacevolezze matematiche'' *''Della repubblica'' *''Della statua'' *''Della mosca'' *''Del cane'' *''Cento apologi'' *''Hecatomphila'' *''Deiphira''

References

*Clement A. Miller. "Cosimo Bartoli", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language '' Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and t ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed March 18, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). ;Notes 1503 births 1572 deaths Diplomats from Florence Scientists from Florence {{Italy-writer-stub Italian philologists Humanists Italian literary critics Renaissance literature