Bartolomeo della Fonte

The title of this article is ambiguous. On the Franciscan and martyr Bartolomeo Fonzio, see Bartolomeo Fonzi .

The dedication copy ( autograph ) of Bartolomeo's works for King Matthias Corvinus , written in 1488. Wolfenbüttel, Herzog August Library, Cod. Lat. 43, Aug. 2 °, fol. 1r

Bartolomeo della Fonte (also Bartolomeo Fonte , Fonzio or Latinized Bartholomaeus Fontius ; * 1446 in Florence , † 1513 in Montemurlo ) was an Italian humanist , poet and translator.

Bartolomeo della Fonte first attended school, then the university in Florence. He studied Greek and Latin with Cristoforo Landino , Johannes Argyropulos and Bernardo Nuri . With Angelo Poliziano he was linked in enmity. From 1469 to 1471 he stayed in Ferrara , then he was back in Florence until 1483. During a short stay in Rome , he wrote a work in which he described the monuments of the city. In 1481 he became a professor at Studio Fiorentino . In 1483 and 1484 he was again in Rome. Through contacts with Hungary, he set out on a trip to Buda in 1484 , which took him via Ragusa . In 1489 he designed the library of Matthias Corvinus in Buda in essential areas. In 1490 he returned to Florence, from 1494 he worked as a priest in Montemurlo.

In addition to his own poems in Latin and Italian, della Fonte mainly published translations of ancient authors, which he also edited and often commented on. From his courses at Studio Fiorentino his edition of the Argonautica by Valerius Flaccus emerged, the notes were the basis of the Flaccus editions until 1503. Here he referred to various other works in his possession, to which he referred to by means of page and folio numbers. For the first time, della Fonte translated the Argonautiká of Apollonios Rhodes from Greek into Latin. Its literal translation resulted in different versions. He also translated Demosthenes ad Alexandrum into Latin and the Phalaris and Aristeas letters into Italian. In 1478 he edited Aulus Cornelius Celsus ' writings and Silvae of Publius Papinius Statius and in 1479/89 the logic of Augustine . In 1477 his commentary on Aulus Persius Flaccus appeared , and in 1488 his treatise on Thadeus . The extensive correspondence he has received gives important insights into the life of the humanists of the 15th and early 16th centuries.

In Fornacelle , the Biblioteca comunale Bartolomeo della Fonte was named in his honor.

Editions and translations

• Alessandro Daneloni, Martin Davies (eds.): Bartolomeo Fonzio: Letters to Friends. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) 2011, ISBN 978-0-674-05836-1 (Latin text and English translation)

literature

• Nikolaus Thurn: Della Fonte, Bartolomeo. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Col. 296 f.