Kallendorf 1983 1

Cristoforo Landino's Aeneid and the Humanist Critical Tradition
Author(s): Craig Kallendorf

Source: Renaissance Quarterly, Vol. 36, No. 4 (Winter, 1983), pp. 519-546
Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of the Renaissance Society of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2860732
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RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY
Edited by BRIDGET GELLERT LYONS & EDWARD P. MAHONEY
AssociateEditorsS. F. JOHNSON C. WILLIAM MILLER
MARGARET L. RANALD
Landino's
Cristoforo AeneidandtheHumanist
CriticalTradition*
byCRAIG KALLENDORF
There is littlequestionthatthe Virgilcriticismof earlyItalian
humanismreacheditszenithin theDisputationes Camaldulenses
of CristoforoLandino.Professorof rhetoricand poetryat theFlor-
entineStudium from1457 to 1497, Landinowas activein thecircleof
philosophers,poets,andscholarsassociatedwithMarsilioFicinoand
oftenreferredto now as the"PlatonicAcademyof Florence.'I The
*Researchforthisarticlewas supportedbygrantsfromtheNewberry Libraryand

theUniversityofNorthCarolina.I am grateful
to ProfessorVirginiaBrownandDr.
ArthurField forsharingwithme the resultsof theirworkon Virgilin theearly
Renaissance,
andto ProfessorsPaulOskarKristeller,
PhilipStadter,
andBarbaraGold
forreadingan earlierversionof thispaperand suggestinga numberof substantial
improvements.
In quotingearlytextsthroughout
thisarticle,I haveexpandedabbreviations
and
contractions
and followedthemoderntypographical conventions
withrespectto i/j,
u/v,andvv.
'For an introductionto Landino's lifeand works, see FrankJ. Fata, "Landino on
Dante," Diss. Johns Hopkins I966, pp. 2-27; ArthurField, "The Beginning of the
Philosophical Renaissance in Florence, I454-I469," Diss. University of Michigan
I980, pp. 200-207; E. Garin, Testiineditie raridi Cristoforo
Landinoe FrancescoFilelfo
(Florence, I949), pp. 3-I I; A.M. Bandini, Specimenliteraturae florentinae saeculiXV, 2
vols. (Florence, I747-5 i); and Alessandro Perosa, "Una fontesecentescadello Speci-
men del Bandini in un codice della Biblioteca Marucelliana," Bibliofilia,42 (I940), 229-
56. On the Platonic Academy, see Paul 0. Kristeller,"The Platonic Academy of
Florence," in RenaissanceThotught II (New York, I965), pp. 89-ioi; Nesca A. Robb,
NeoplatonismoftheItalian Renaissance(London, I935); and A. della Torre, Storiadell'
accademia platonicadi Firenze(Florence, I902).
[ 519 l
520 RENAISSANCE QUARTERLY
dialogue,written in 1472 andseta fewyearsearlierin themonastery

at Camaldoli,2beginsas an examinationoftheactiveandcontempla-
tivelivesand thenatureofthesummum bonum (Books I and II). Since
LandinobelievedthatVirgilalso describedthesummum bonumand
thepathby whichwe reachit,3Books III and IV oftheDisputationes
turnto the Aeneidas a parallelsourceof philosophicaltruth.The
resultis an extendedallegoryofthefirst
halfofthepoem,an allegory
thatfollowsAeneas scene by scene fromthe sensualpleasuresof
Troy throughtheactivelife(Carthage)to thecontemplative lifein
Italy.
LandinodidnotconfinehisdiscussionoftheAeneidto theDisputa-
tiones.We know thathe lecturedon thepoem duringtheacademic
year1462-63, and thenotesforthiscoursewereidentified in 1978at
theBibliotecaCasanatensein Rome (Codex I368).4 This manuscript
toucheson quitea numberof Landino'skey allegoricalideas, sug-
2Fora discussion of theproblemsraisedin datingthedialogue, see PeterLohe, "Die
Datierung der 'Disputationes Camaldulenses' des CristoforoLandino," Rinascimento,
9 (I969), 29I-99 and the introductionto Lohe's criticaledition of the Disputationes
Camaldulenses(Florence, I980), pp. xxx-xxxiii. An alternativeapproach is taken by
Roberto Cardini in La critica delLandino(Florence, I973), P. 152, n. 37.
3All citationsof the Disputationesare fromLohe's criticaledition; this referenceis
foundon p. I IO.We should note thatLandino's interestin theethicalcontentof poetry
has its roots in the medieval accessusad auctorestradition,which began the study of a
classical poem with an introductoryanalysis of the work and its author. The last
sectionof thisanalysisconsideredwhich partof philosophythepoem should be placed
under ("cui partiphilosophiae supponatur"), and theanswergenerallygiven was "eth-
ics." Arnulfof Orleans, forexample, does thiswiththeMetamorphoses, which "is to be
placed under ethics,since it teachesus to scornthose temporalthingswhich are transi-
toryand inconstant,a teachingwhich is relevantto morality"("ethice supponiturquia
docet nos ista temporaliaque transitoriaet mutabilia,contempnere,quod pertinetad
moralitatem," as quoted by Fausto Ghisalbertiin "Arnolfo d'Orleans, un cultore di
Ovidio nel secolo XII," Memoriedel Reale IstitutoLombardo,24 [I9321, i8i). On the
accessusad auctores,see Edwin A. Quain, S.J., "The Medieval Accessusad Auctores,"
Traditio,3 (I945), 2I5-64; Fausto Ghisalberti,"Mediaeval Biographies of Ovid,"
JWCI,9 (I946), IO-59; and Accessusad Atictores,ed. R. B. C. Huygens (Berchem-
Brussels, I954).
4Information on the courses that Landino gave at the Studiummay be found in
Cardini, La criticadel Landino,pp. I6-I7 and ManfredLentzen, "Zum gegenwartigen
Stand der Landino Forschung," Wolfenbiitteler RenaissanceMitteilungen, 5 (i98i), 93-
94. The I462-63 commentarywas identifiedby ArthurField and announced in "A
Manuscriptof CristoforoLandino's FirstLectureson Virgil, I462-63," RQ, 3 I (I978),
I7-20; I was able to examine this manuscriptin the fall of I98I, afterstudyingLan-
dino's other work on Virgil, and feel confidentthat Field's attributionis correct.
Cardini, La criticadel Landino,PP. 3I2-26 has published the prefaceto the year's lec-
tures, "Clarissimi viri ChristophoriLandini praefatioin Virgilio habita in gymnasio
Florentino,I462."
CRISTOFORO LANDINO'S AENEID 521
gestingthattheseminalpointsin theDisputationes werealreadycir-

culatingin Florencein theearly146os. Whatis more,Landinopub-
lisheda line by line commentary to the whole Aeneidin 1488, a
commentarywhich quicklyenteredthe canon of scholarlyaids
found in the often-reprinted "Vergilius cum commentariis
quinque."5 Though it emphasizesotherissues, this commentary
makes passingreferences to many of the same allegoricalpoints
takenup at lengthin the dialogue.Finally,Landinowrotea com-
mentary to Dante'sCommedia.6 Sincehe believedthatDanteusedthe
Aeneidas a modelin thissamequestforthesummum bonum, Landino
oftenbeginshis interpretation of the Commedia, especiallyin the
Inferno,by presenting briefallegorizations
ofrelevantpassagesfrom
Virgil. Thus many key ideas fromthe Disputationes may also be
foundelsewherein Landino'sscholarly writings.
Landino'smoralallegorywas widelyknownin itsown day. The
Disputationeswas firstpublishedin 1480, and it was reprintedeight
timesby i6o5, withItaliantranslations appearingtwiceduringthis
period.Itsaudiencewas international, sincereprinteditionsappeared
in Strasbourg,Paris, Geneva, and Basel, and a copy of the editio
princepshas beenidentified in thelibraryofJohnShirwood,Bishop
ofDurham.7We shouldalso remember thattheimpactoftheDispu-
tationesis not limitedto literature;
forexample,the dispositionof
scenesin Pietroda Cortona'sGalleriadi Enea, in Rome's Palazzo
Doria Pamphili,restson the painter'sstudyof Landino.8What is
5Referencesto the I488 commentaryare to Vergilius cumicommnentariisquinque(Ven-

ice, I493).
6Landino's Dante commentarywas firstprintedin Florence, I48 I: Comentodi Chris-
tophoro LandinoFiorentino soprala Comediadi DantheAlighlieriPoetaFiorentino (Hain Nr.
5946). I have referredto the Venice, I536 edition: Cantica del divinopoeta Danthe
Alighierifiorentino, See also Landino's "Prolusione dantesca," in Scritti
critici
e teorici,
ed.
Roberto Cardini (Rome, I974), 1,45-55; the same speech is edited by ManfredLent-
zen, who feelsthatit is Landino's inaugurallecturein the FlorentineStuidium ("Cristo-
foro Landinos Antrittsvorlesungim Studio Fiorentino," Romanische Forschungen, 8i
[I9691, 60-88).
7Bibliographicalinformationon the DisputationesCamaldulensesmay be found in
the introductionto Lohe's edition,pp. xvi-xvii, xxiv-xxix. On Bishop Shirwood and
his copy of the Disputationes,see P. S. Allen, "Bishop Shirwood of Durham and His
Library,"EHR, 25 (9I0), 445-56.
8Virgilio nell'artee nellacultura
europea,thecatalogue of an exhibitionheld at Rome's
Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale, 24 September to 24 November I98 I, ed. Marcello
Fagiolo (Rome, I 98 I), pp. I 6 I-7 I .
more,Landino'scommentaries presented atleastsomeofhisallegor-

icalobservations fromtheDisputationes to otherreaders.His 146263
lectureseriesintroduced hisideasto hisstudents in Florence,and the
1488 commentary becamea bestsellerofsorts,sinceitwas included
in nineteenofthethirty-five editionsofVirgilpublishedbetweenits
firstappearanceand I500.9 And theDante commentary, becauseit
was writtenin Italian,made manyof thesame pointsavailableto a
lessscholarlyaudience.
As themostfullydevelopedexpressionof Landino'sVirgilcriti-
cism,theDisputationes is thuscentralto thereception oftheAeneidin
RenaissanceItaly.Yet surprisingly, modernscholarswho havewrit-
tenon thedialoguehave not adequatelyexploreditsrelationship to
theAeneidcriticism ofLandino'shumanist predecessors and contem-
poraries.Don CameronAllen,forexample,is interested in theDis-
putationesas it relatesto thebroadtradition ofRenaissanceallegory,
andEugenWolf'soften-cited articleis mostvaluableforitstreatment
of Landino'sculturaland philosophical interests. Carryingthrough
thisinterest in Landino'sphilosophy,ArthurFielduses theDisputa-
tionesas partofhisargument thattheemphasison thecontemplative
lifein Medici Florencedid not requirea renunciation of theactive
life. Eberhard Miiller-BochatestablishesLandino's debt to the
Odysseus of Neoplatonictradition,and Michael Murrinuses the
Disputationes as the focalpointfora generaldiscussionof Virgil's
Platonism.Landino'sideas aboutpoetryand literary criticismpro-
videa subjectforRobertoCardini,anda numberoffinestudieshave
examinedLandino'sDante commentary in relationto hisworkwith
theDisputationes. VladimiroZabughindoeslook briefly attheroleof
Landino'sworkin ItalianRenaissanceVirgilcriticism, buttheambi-
tiousscope of his surveykeepshimfromdevotingsufficient atten-
tionspecifically to theDisputationes.'1 In otherwords,theavailable
9Informationon Landino's publishedcommentarymay be foundin Giuliano Mam-

belli, Gli annalidelleedizionivirgiliane
(Florence, I954), pp. 30-40. The editionsentered
under numbers 56 and 7I may also have containedLandino's commentary.
i(Don Cameron Allen, Mysteriously Meant: The Rediscovery ofPagan Symbolismand
AllegoricalInterpretation in theRenaissance(Baltimore, I970), pp. I42-54; Eugen Wolf,
"Die allegorische Vergilerklarungdes Cristoforo Landino," Neue jahrbucherfurdas
klassische Altertum,Geschichte, unddeutscheLiteraturundftirPadagogik,43(I9I9), 453-79;
Arthur Field, "Beginning of the Philosophical Renaissance," pp. 207, 234-36;
Eberhard Muiller-Bochat,Leon BattistaAlbertiunddie Vergil-Deutung derDisputationes
Camaldulenlses. Zur allegorischenDichter-Erklarung bei CristoforoLandino,Schriftenund
studiesdo not focusin detailon theAeneiditselfand on how the

Disputationes
shapedand reshapedtheway in whichLandino'scon-
temporariesinterpreted
thepoem. This articleaimsto providethat
focusby assessingLandino'splacewithinthetraditionof Italianhu-
manistAeneidcriticism.
* * *
Whencalledto teachrhetoric andpoetryattheFlorentine Studium,

Landinoreceivedtangiblerecognition forhisachievements as a cul-
turalheirofPetrarch and theFlorentine humanisttradition.Thus he
lecturedon Cicero, Horace,Juvenal,Persius,and Virgil,and he
translatedPliny'sNaturalHistory inan effort
to stimulate
appreciation
fortheancientauthors.1" And, in theprefatory matterto hisDante
commentary, Landinooffers a eulogyofFlorenceas thebirthplace of
the Italianculturalrevival.BeginningwithDante, he writes,the
revivalof eloquencehas continuedwithPetrarch,Boccaccio,Salu-
tati,Bruni,Poggio, Traversari,Alberti,Palmieri,Niccoli12-and,
by extension,withLandinohimself.We shouldexpect,then,that
Landino will turnto the Aeneidwith thissame awarenessof the
culturaltraditionin whichhe saw himself participating.
Near thebeginningof thethirdbook of theDisputationes,at the
pointwherehe takesup hisallegorization
oftheAeneid,Landinothus
announceshis intentionsin a way thatinvitesus to examinehis
commentary morecloselyas a partofthistradition:
What you are seeking,moreover,is muchnobler,somethingwhich lies more
hiddenin obscurityand has neverbeen revealedin its own sequentialorderby
anyone,as faras I know, up to thispoint. Neithergrammariannor rhetorician
knows this,butit mustbe broughtto lightfromthedeepestsecretsofphiloso-
Vortrage des Petrarca-Instituts K6ln, 2I (Krefeld, I968), p. I3; Michael Murrin, The
AllegoricalEpic: Essays in Its Rise and Decline (Chicago, I980), pp. 28-34; Roberto
Cardini, La criticadel Landino,pp. 39-65, 94-I00, Io6-I2; Frank Fata, "Landino on
Dante," pp. 29-6i; Manfred Lentzen, Studienzur Dante-ExegeseCristoforo Landinos,
Studi italiani, 12 (Cologne, I971), pp. I37-5I; Eberhard Muller-Bochat, "Der alle-
gorische Aneas und die Auslegung des danteschenJenseitsim I4. Jahrhundert,"
DeutschesDante-jahrbuch, 44/45 (I967), 59-8i; Michele Barbi, Dellafortunadi Dante nel
secoloXVI (Pisa, I890), pp. I50-79; and Vladimiro Zabughin, VergilionelRinascimento
italianoda Dantea TorquatoTasso (Bologna, I92I-23), 1,I94-202.
"Cardini, La criticadelLandino,pp. I6-I7 and Field, "Beginning of the Philosophi-
cal Renaissance," p. 205.
'2Sigs. AA6-AA7.
phy,foryouwishto knowwhatVirgilmeantinhismysteries concerning

the
wanderings
ofAeneasandthedeparture
ofthatmanto Italy.13
This passage raisestwo questionsforthemodernscholarwho ap-

proachestheDisputationes as a partofthehumanists' workon Virgil.
First,whatare theimplications of Landino'sdecisionto analyzethe
Aeneidas a source of philosophical truth(truthderived"fromthe
deepestsecretsofphilosophy")? The secondquestion,whichis more
difficultto answer,revolvesaroundhow Landinocanclaimto be the
firstto explicatethe hiddenmeaningof the poem ("what you are
seeking. . . has neverbeenrevealedin itsown sequentialorderby
anyone,as faras I know,up to thispoint").In trying to answerthese
questions,we shallsee how carefully Landinodefineshisintentions
in relationto hishumanistpredecessors andcontemporaries.
When he lecturedon the Aeneidat the FlorentineStudium, and
whenhe puthisnotesin orderforpublication in 1488,Landinowas
approachingthepoem asgrammaticus and rhetor. The resultis a com-
mentaryin thebesttradition ofhumanistphilology.AlthoughLan-
dinogaveinherewithsomeregularity to hislove ofallegorizing, the
1488 commentary ostensiblysetsout to explaindifficult wordsand
phrases,locateforgotten placenames,identify rhetoricalfigures,and
thelike.Whenhe takesup theAeneidin theDisputationes, however,
Landinoself-consciously turnsaway fromthisapproachto extract
fromthe poem what can be derived"fromthe deepestsecretsof
philosophy."He is able to do thisbecausehe also saw poetryas a
sourceof philosophicaltruth.Drawingon a passagefromBoccac-
cio's Genealogiedeorumgentilium, Landinorefers to thephilosophical
contentofpoetryas "civictheology,"whichhe definesas follows:
Indeed,forthatreasonthethird[kindoftheology] is called"civic,"since
forliving
precepts thegoodandhappy lifearebrought
forth from it.Therefore
thepoets-themostlearned menyoucanfind-generally mixtogether all
these
thingsintoone,sothatbya certain
optimum proportionthey atthesame
timecaresstheearswiththegreatest pleasureandnourish themindwith
13''Quod autem petis, id et multo diviniusest et magis in obscuro latetet a nullo,

quod ego quidem sciam, hactenus sua serie patefactum,quod neque grammaticus
neque rhetor noverit, sed sit ex intimis philosophiae arcanis eruendum. Vis enim
nosse, quid per sua illa aenigmata de Aeneae erroribusdeque eius hominis in Italiam
profectionesibi Maro voluerit" (pp. I I7-I8). The translationand all those thatfollow
are my own.
and to thehighest
profoundknowledge,leadingus to virtueand morality
gooditself.
14
The contentofpoetry,in otherwords,consistsofpreceptsforliving

a virtuousandhappylife-moralphilosophy, we wouldcustomarily
callit. In teachingus ethics,thesepreceptsultimately lead us to the
summum bonumitself. we recallthatthe firsttwo books of the
If
Disputationes discussthissamesearchforthehighestgood, itis easy
to see how LandinothephilosophershadesintoLandinotheVirgil
critic.
In theory,then,thefunction ofthephilosopher-criticdiffersfrom
thatof thegrammarian-rhetorician. Landinoconfirms thispointin
his 1488 commentary when he writes,"foras in our Disputationes
Camaldulenses we executedthefunction ofan expounderofphiloso-
phy,so inthiscommentary we shallperform theofficesofgrammar-
ian and teacherofrhetoric."'15 we shouldnotethatthe
Nevertheless,
line by line commentary is by no means freeof the influenceof
philosophicalcriticism, since,as the prefaceclearlystates,the real
valueofthepoemliesinitsethicalcontent:
Moreover,in regardtolivingthegoodandhappylife,who couldnotseethat
all the preceptsby whichthehumanlifeis properlytrainedcan easilybe
broughtforthand perceivedfromthispoet,as fromthehonoredspringsof
philosophy? . . . Virgil'spoem portrayseverykindof humanlife,so that
thereis no class,age,sex,or,finally, whichcouldnotlearnfrom
no condition
14"Tertium [genus theologiae]vero iccircocivileappellant,quia inde ad bene beate-
que vivendum praecepta promantur.Consuevere igiturpoetae, quibus nihil doctius
reperias,haec omnia ita confundereatque in unum conmiscere,ut optimo quodam
temperamentoeodem tempore et aures summa voluptate demulceantet mentemre-
condita doctrinaalant ac nos ad rectumatque honestumet ad ipsum summurnbonum
deducant" (DisputationesCamaldulenses,p. I67). Landino is referringhere to Varro's
division of theology into mythical,physical, and civic, a distinctionpreserved in
Augustine, Civ. Dei 6.5 and presentedin turnby Boccaccio, Genealogiedeorum genti-
lium libri,ed. Vincenzo Romano (Bari, I951), II, 767-68. See also the "Prolusione
dantesca," where Landino concludes thatin poetrycountless rules and examples for
speaking well and for acting well are found (ed. Roberto Cardini, in La criticadel
Landino,p. 368).
15''Nam quemadmodum in chamaldulensibusphilosophi interpretis munus obivi-
mus, sic in his commentariisgrammaticirhetorisquevices praestabimus" (fol. I I2).
The preferenceof the humanistcommentaryforgrammaticaland rhetoricalmaterial
has been stressedby JozefIJsewijn,"Laurentius Vallas sprachlicheKommentare," in
Der Kommentar inderRenaissance,ed. August Buck and Otto Herding,Kommission fur
Humanismusforschung,Mitteilung, I (Boppard, I975). IJsewijnargues that Valla
freedthe commentaryof moralizingtendencies,althoughsome laterhumanistswere
less rigidthanhe in preservingthedistinction(p. 97).
ittheentirety
ofitsduties.Withwhatkeenness, I askyou,withwhatfloodof
words does he rail at fear,cowardice,prodigality,
incontinence,
impiety,
treachery,andeverykindofinjusticealongwiththeremaining vices?On the
otherhand,withwhatpraisesandrewardsdoeshe attendinvincible magna-
nimityanda deliberate undertaking
ofdangerson behalfofcountryandpar-
ents,relatives
andfriends?Withwhatpraisesandrewardsdoeshe accompany
respectfora god, dutifulconducttowardone's ancestors,and affectionate
esteemforall?16
Althoughhe is writingas a grammarian-rhetorician here,Landino
takesthisopportunity to directthereader'sattention to theethical
contentof the poem he is about to study.The Aeneid,Landino
writes,is a completesource of ethicalpreceptsfor all men and
women, a patternforpraisingvirtueand condemningvice. In a
sense,themoralcontentofthepoemjustifies thelaborsofthephilol-
ogist,and thephilologicalcommentary in turnprovidesthefounda-
tionfortheworkofthephilosopher-critic.
The Disputationes,
then,aimsto providean expositionofthecon-
tentoftheAeneidaccordingto theprinciples ofmoralphilosophy,an
expositionthatLandino consciouslysets apartin theoryfromthe
commentaries ofthehumanistgrammarian-rhetoricians. This much
is clearenough;whatis lessclearis hisintentioninclaimingoriginal-
ity for thisphilosophicalexposition.Landino certainlyknew the
16"Quod autem ad bene beateque vivendumpertinet,quis non videat omnia quibus

vita humana recteinstituatur,praeceptaab hoc poeta velutiex adorandis philosophiae
scatebrispromi facileac percipiposse? . . . Maronis poema omne humanae vitae ge-
nus exprimit,ut nullus hominum ordo, nulla aetas, nullus sexus sit, nulla denique
conditio, quae ab eo sua officianon integreaddiscat. Qua obsecro ille acrimonia, quo
verborum flumine,metum, ignaviam, luxuriam, incontinentiam,impietatem,per-
fidiam, ac omnia iniustitiaegenera reliquaque vitia insectatur,vexat? Quibus contra
laudibus, quibus praemiis invictamanimi magnitudinem,et pro patria, pro parenti-
bus, pro cognatis amicisque consideratampericulorumsusceptionem,religionemin
deum, pietatemin maiores, charitatemin omnes prosequitur?" ("Christophori Lan-
dini Florentinide peculiariPublii VirgiliiMaronis laude, honestapraefatio,"in Virgil's
Opera [Venice, I 544; reprintNew York, I976], fols. i-iiof the "Praenotamenta.") See
delLandino,ed. Roberto Cardini, pp. 324-
also the "Praefatioin Virgilio," in La critica
26: "Indeed, if you set forth[Virgil] foryourselvesto imitateas a standardand model
of life, you will perceive that nothing will be lacking from those things which are
associated with living a happy and blessed life"("Quem [Maronem] quidem si vobis
tamquam normam exemplarque vitae ad imitandumproposueritis,nihilex uisquae ad
bene beateque vivendum pertinentvobis defuturumsentietis"). Landino makes the
same point in a recentlydiscovered oration on Virgil fromthe I46os, which is edited
by ArthurField in "An Inaugural Oration by CristoforoLandino in Praise of Virgil
(From Codex '2,' Casa Cavalli, Ravenna)," Rinascimento, 2nd ser., 2I (I98I), 243.
works of Fulgentius,forinstance,and theircongruenceof aim is

apparentevenfromthetitleofFulgentius' study:ExpositioVirgilianae
secundum
continentiae philosophosmoralis. interprets
17The Expositio the
Aeneidas a descriptionoftheprocessbywhichmangrowsto ethical
maturity, a processin whichthebooks of theAeneidcorrespondto
stagesof growthfrominfancyto maturity. Fulgentius'analysisis
enoughto commenton manyofthekeyscenesinthepoem,
leisurely
so thattheCyclops story,forexample,shows how a childwho is
releasedfromfearof his guardianabandonshimselfto youthful er-
ror,and theburialsof Palinurus("wanderingvision")and Misenus
("emptypraise")represent necessarystepsalongthepathto ethical
maturity.18Landinoalso drawsregularly fromthecommentary of
BernardusSilvestris,which is single-mindedly moral. Bernardus
findsin theAeneid"the greatest. . . examplesand practicalmeans
forapproachingthevirtuousand fleeingwhatis forbidden,'19 and
his descriptionof the heroicjourney as ethicalmaturation,like
Fulgentius',incorporates detailedtreatments of manykeypassages
fromtheAeneid,especiallyfromBook VI. In fact,one of Landino's
mostdistinctive features-thedescription ofthemultipledescensus ad
as a guide to AeneidVI-can be tracedback ultimatelyto
inferos
"7Thetextappears in Fulgentius'Opera,ed. RudolfusHelm (Leipzig, I 898), pp. 8 i-

I07. The Expositiowas commonly available throughthe Middle Ages and the Renais-
sance (see Remigio Sabbadini, Le scopertedei codicilatinie grecine' secoliXIV e XV
[Florence, I9I4; rpt. Florence, i9671, II, 224-25), and it played an influentialrole in
shaping Petrarch's approach to Virgil (Pierre de Nolhac, "Virgile chez Petrarque,"
Studimedievali,NS 5 [I932], 222-23).
'8ExpositioVirgilianaecontinentiae,
pp. 93-94 on the Cyclops; on Palinurusand Mi-
senus, ibid., pp. 95-96.
19"Maxima . . . exempla et excogitationesaggrediendihonestaet fugiendiillicita,"
The Commentary on theFirstSix Books oftheAeneidCommonlyAttributed to Bernardus
Silvestris,ed. JulianWard and Elizabeth FrancesJones(Lincoln, Neb., I977), pp. 2-3.
Though the evidence regardingauthorshipof the commentaryis inconclusive, the
Joneses consider the attributionto Bernardus suspect; see the introductionto their
edition of the text,pp. ix-xi. Allen, Mysteriously Meant,pp. I3940 and note 2I indi-
cates thatthe commentarywas known to Landino but was not printedin the Renais-
sance. It was also known to Salutati, whose De laboribusHerculiswas an important
source of allegoricalmaterialforthe Disputationes (Lentzen,Studienzur Dante-Exegese,
pp. I49-50). Giorgio Padoan, "Tradizione e fortunadel commento all' 'Eneida' di
Bernardo Silvestre," Italia medioevalee umanistica,3 (i96o), 234-36 argues that the
impactof Bernardus' work is greaterthanhis detractorsmightthink,and thesurveyof
manuscriptsmade for theJones edition shows thatthe commentaryremained fairly
popular throughthefifteenth century.
Bernardus.2" We cannotevensaythatLandinowas thefirsthumanist

to providethepoemas a wholewithan interpretation whichstressed
its philosophicalcontent.The allegoryfoundin Petrarch'sSeniles
4.4, forexample,describesAeneas' role as a travellerthroughthe
treacherous seasoflifeandthetemptations (suchas sensuallove) that
mustbe overcomealong theway.21Moreover,FrancescoFilelfo's
letterto Ciriacod'Ancona,whichis citedin theDisputationes, fore-
shadowsLandino'sinterest in theactiveand contemplative livesas a
criticalmotifintheAeneid:
For[Virgil]saysthathe "singsofarms,"bywhichherefers towarlike and
activevirtues,
forarmsaretheinstrumentsofwagingwarandfighting. And
he saysthathe singsof"theman,"bywhichhe refers to therefined and
intellectual inwhichwisdomandprudence
virtues, holdpre-eminence....
Andthusin thefirst sixbooksoftheAeneid contemplation
especiallyand
holdtheirplace,butinthesecondsixbooksthere
deliberation is praisefor
action.
22
For Filelfo,as forLandino,theAeneidmustbe interpreted "fromthe

deepestsecretsofphilosophy."
Interestingly enough,our effortto evaluateLandino'sclaim to
originalityhereiscomplicated byhisdecisiontopreparea philosoph-
icalratherthana philologicalcommentary. Ifwe wishto checkup on
sourcesfora givenpassagein thedialogue,we haveto considernot
only those few "commentaries"and letterswhich deal explicitly
withthephilosophical contentoftheAeneidas a whole,butalso with
the manyothertreatments of moralphilosophyin generalwhich
mightdraw on Virgilforexamplesand precepts.For instance,we
know thatLandinoandFicinoreadone another'swork,23 andFicino
211See below, pp. 543-44. The typesof thedescensus ad infrosare treatedat lengthin
the Disputationes,pp. 2I2-Ig; Bernardus' treatmentappears on p. 30 of his Commen-
tary.
21Thislettermay be found in Petrarch'sOpera quae extantomnia(Basel, I58i), pp.
786-89. On Petrarch'sapproach to Virgil in general,see Pierrede Nolhac, Petrarqueet
l'Humanisme,2nd ed. (Paris, I907), pp. I4o-6I.
22"Ait [Vergilius] enim se canere arma quo ad virtutesbellicas et activas, nam
bellandi pugnandique instrumentasunt arma. Et virum quo ad virtutesurbanas intel-
lectivasque in quibus sapientia tenetet prudentiaprincipatum.. Itaque in primis
sex aeneidos libriscontemplatiomaxime et consultatiolocum habet. In secundisautem
Philelphilibrisedecim[Paris, I 5 I 31, fols.
Francisci
librissex actionisest laus" (Epistolarum
5-5v).
23We know froma letterto Bartolomeo Scala thatFicino read the Disputationes at
some point: "I have read the DisputationesCamaldulensesof Cristoforo Landino; in
these books he penetratesthe utmost recesses of Virgil" ("Legi quaestiones Chris-
tophoriLandini Camaldulenses: in uislibrisMaronis adyta penetrat";quoted by Lent-
evenservesas a minorcharacter intheDisputationes.Thus we would

expectsome cross-fertilization whenwe readin an appendixto Fi-
cino'sPhilebuscommentary thatMinerva,Juno,andVenusrepresent
thecontemplative, active,andpleasurable so that"forthis
lifestyles,
reasonAeneasis represented as afflicted
and disturbed on accountof
Juno,thatis, on accountof zeal forruling."24 FrancescoFilelfo,to
selectanotherexample,wrotea fairly populartreatiseon moralphi-
losophy,De moralidisciplina, and the Aeneidis one of his favorite
sourcesforillustrative material;in discussingthevirtueof courage,
forexample,he explainstheincompatibility of braveryand despair
by referring to Aen. 11.354.25 A numberof humanistdialoguesalso
mentiontheAeneidas a sourceofethicalinsight.In Petrarch's Secre-
tum,forexample,FrancescoallegorizesthestormfromAen. I. 5off.
as a strugglebetweenreasonandtheirascibleandconcupiscent appe-
tites,to show in generalhow virtuoussententiae canhelprestrainthe
passions.26Poggio Bracciolini'sDe avaritiain turnpresentsan ex-
tendedallegoryofAeneas'encounter withtheHarpiesas a partofits
treatment ofgreed.27
zen in his Studienzur Dante-Exegese,pp. I53-54, n. 48). Likewise, Landino describes

his pleasure at the opportunityto examine a work of Ficino's: "You will easily per-
ceive, therefore,of what sortthesethingsare and how much theyshould be esteemed,
from that as yet unpolished book which our Marsilio is preparingbut has not yet
published. But when I had tarriedat his house in Figline, I chanced upon thatbook,
opened it, and read througha numberof passages with the greatestpleasure" ("Haec
igitur et qualia sint et quanti facienda, facile ex eo libro percipies, quem nondum
expolitum in manibus hic noster Marsilius habet nec adhuc edidit. Verum ego, cum
apud ipsum in Fighinensidivertissem,casu in eum incidensaperui locosque quosdam
summa cum voluptatepercurri";Disputationes Camaldulenses, p. 260).
24''ProptereafingiturAeneas objunonem perturbatione vexatus,id est,ob studium
imperandi (MarsilioFicino: The 'Philebus'Commentary, ed. and trans. Michael J. B.
Allen [Berkeley, I9751 p. 449, cited by Lentzen, Studienzur Dante-Exegese,p. I53).
The datingof thiswork is difficult to establishprecisely,but Landino does referexplic-
itlyto Ficino's Philebuscommentaryin theDisputationes Camaldulenses (p. 68), as Allen
(The 'Philebus' Commentary, p. io) and P. 0. Kristeller (Supplementum Ficinianum
[Florence, I9371, I,CXXII) note.
25FrancisciPhilelphide moralidisciplinalibriquinque(Venice, I552), fol. 66. Aeneas at
thispoint encourages his troopsin a cause he considershopeless: "the one salvationfor
the conquered is to hope forno salvation" ("Una salus victisnullamsperaresalutem").
26Secretum,in Prose,ed. G. Martellottiand E. Carrara,La letteratura italiana,storiae
testi,7 (Milan and Naples, n.d.), pp. I22-24; cf. Sen. 4.4. This allegoricalinterpreta-
tion was popular among the early humanists;see also II comento di GiovanniBoccaccio
soprala commedia, ed. Gaetano Milanesi (Florence, I863), pp. 24950, and Filelfo's De
moralidisciplina,fol. 5.
27De avaritia,in Prosatorilatinidel Quattrocento, ed. Eugenio Garin, La letteratura
italiana,storiae testi,I3 (Milan and Naples, n.d.), pp. 254-56.
To complicatemattersstillfurther,we shouldremember thatthe

humanists'interestin moralphilosophycoloredtheirapproachto
in general,so thatwe findethicalpreceptsand examples
belleslettres
scatteredthroughout mostothergenresas well. For instance,early
mythologicalmanualslike Boccaccio's Genealogie deorum gentilium
oftencontaina defenseofpoetry,whichstressesthevalueof poetry
in inculcatingvirtue:
Let [thedetractorsof literature]readand studyin theAeneidwhat exhortations
thereare ofAeneas to his companionson theenduranceofcominglabors;what
eagernesswas his in going nobly throughthe wounds of death forthe well-
being of his country;what devotion toward his father,whom he carriedto
safetyon his shoulders throughhouses all afireand collapsing temples and
throughthemidstofenemyforcesand a thousandflyingspears;whatmercyto
his enemyAchaemenides;what strength of spiritin ridiculingand breakingthe
chains of wanton love; whatjustice and generositytoward friendsand stran-
gersin offeringgiftsto thosewho deservedthemat thegames held in Sicilyon
the anniversaryof Anchises' death;what prudence,how much cautionin the
descent to the underworld;what exhortationsto glory his fathergave him;
what skillwas his in formingfriendships; how greatan obligingnessand trust-
worthinessin carryingthroughwhat he began; how compassionatelyhe wept
at the death of his friendPallas; and what warningshe frequentlygave his
son.28
For Boccaccio,as forLandino,theAeneidis a sourcebookin applied

moralphilosophy,a collectionofscenesandsayingsthatdepictcour-
age and prudence,pietasand clemencyand munificence.Moral phi-
losophyalso formsthefoundation forthehumanist theoryofeduca-
tion,29as we see fromthe titleof popularpedagogicaltractslike
28"Legant et perlegant,que sint in Eneida ad patientiamlaborum emergentium

exhortationesEnee ad socios, quis ardorillipulchrepervulneramortispro salutepatrie
fuerit,que erga patrempietas, quem humerisper ardentesundique domos et ruentia
templa,perque medios hosteset millevolantiateladevexitin tutum,que in Achemeni-
dem hostem dementia, quod roburanimi ad illudendasfrangendasqueamoris petulci
catenas,que iustitiaatque munificentiacircaamicos et exterosin exhibendismuneribus
bene meritis,ludis in anniversarioAnchisispatrisapud Acestem peractis,que pruden-
tia, quanta circumspectioin descensu ad Inferos,que genitorisad eum suasiones ad
gloriam, que eius in iungendis amicitiissolertia, quam grandis comitas fidesque in
conservandissusceptis, quam pie in Pallantisamici mortelacrime,que eius ad filium
persepe monita" (11,727-28).
29Theeducational treatisesof Vergerio,Bruni, Vegio, Aeneas Sylvius, and Battista
Guarino formed the foundation for the practice of great teachers like Guarino da
Verona and Vittorinoda Feltre,a practicewhich emphasized characterdevelopment.
As Lodovico Carbone writes,"For not only correctgrammar,but also good character
was learned from Guarino. . . . All his reading selections, examples, and precepts
MaffeoVegio's De educations liberorumeteorum clarismoribus.Poetry

liketheAeneidthusteachesthestudentto praisevirtueand fleevice,
withAeneas (who is endowedwitheveryvirtue)servingthe first
function and Dido thesecond.3-" Ifwe turnto thelettercollectionsof
theday,we finddiscussions ofthebooksthehumanists werereading
and thephilosophicalproblemstheyencountered there.For exam-
ple,Coluccio Salutati,whosewritings Landinocitesfrequently inhis
Disputationes,
readsVirgilinsearchofwhatpertains to upright living
and good character,31 and hislettersto GiulianoZonarini,Giovanni
da San Miniato,GiovanniDominici,and PellegrinoZambeccariap-
proachpoetryin generaland theAeneidin particular withtheinter-
ests of Landino's philosophicalcriticismprominently displayed.32
Even invectivecantouchon thesamematters as theDisputationes.As
partofthegeneraldefenseofpoetry,forinstance, Petrarch's Invective
contramedicum arguesthatVirgilwroteaboutthevirtuesand human
perfection;thisapproachthenleads to condemnation of lustin the
appearanceofVenusatAen.II. 589ff. 33
We see, then,thatthehumanistsdiscussedthemoralphilosophy
of Virgil'sAeneidin a broadspectrumofliterary and scholarlywrit-
ings.34Landino'seulogyof Florentine culture,along withhis cita-
were relatedto living a good and happy life" ("Nec enim solum rectalitteratura,sed
boni etiam mores a Guaryno discebantur.... Omnes eius lectiones, omnia docu-
menta, omnia praecepta ad bene beateque vivendum referebantur";in LodoviciCar-
bonis. . . oratiohabitain funerepraestantissimi oratoriset poetae Guaryni Veronensis,
in
Giulio Bertoni, Guarinoda Veronafraletterati e cortigiania Ferarra[I429-60] [Geneva,
I92I], P. I68).
30MaffeoVegio, De educatione liberorurmet eorumclarismoribus, ed. M. W. Fanning
and A. S. Sullivan, Studies in Medieval and RenaissanceLatin, i, fasc. I-2 (Washing-
ton, DC, I933-36), pp. 87-88.
3IEpistolariodi ColuccioSalutati,ed. FrancescoNovati (Rome, I89I-I9 I), 1,304.
32These lettersmay be found in the Epistolario,1,298-307, 32I-29, 111,285-308,
IV, I70-240, with additional commentaryin B. L. Ullman, "Observations on No-
vati's Edition of Salutati's Letters," in Studiesin theItalian Renaissance(Rome, I955),
Pp.2I5-I6, 232, 237.
33Invective
contramedicum,in Opere latine,ed. AntoniettaBufano (Turin, I975),
II,908.
34Theexamples of Virgil criticismcited for each genre are by no means the only
ones available. Although an interestin moral philosophyis inherentin Italianhuman-
ism fromitsdecisive beginningswithPetrarch,thisinterestdid not necessarilyresultin
sophisticated, technically innovative philosophical speculation. Georg Voigt ap-
proaches thispoint ratherpejorativelywhen he writes,"was sie [thehumanists]Philo-
sophiren nennen, ist nichtviel mehr als die Wiederholungund Variation der klassis-
chen Gemeinplatze uber die Unbestimmtheitund Unabwendbarkeitdes Todes und
tionsand allusionsin the Disputationesitself,indicatethathe was

familiarwithprominenthumanistslikethosewe have considered,
and thuswithmanyifnotallofthemoreobvioussourcesandparal-
lelsto hiswork.In otherwords,hisclaimsto originality proveeven
morepuzzlingonce we move theframeof reference away fromthe
traditionof grammatical-rhetorical commentary. Whatinnovation
canLandinopossiblyclaimforhimself whenhe writesthathisphilo-
sophicalinterpretation"has neverbeenrevealedinitsown sequential
orderby anyone,as faras I know,up to thispoint"?
To answerthisquestion,we shouldlook againat thescope and
extentof Landino'sstudyas he definesit. It is truethathe cannot
claim to be the originatorof each and everydetailin his analysis,
sincemanyof thesepointshad been takenup beforehimby other
criticswhose interestin moralphilosophyappearsin letters,invec-
tives,and mythologymanualsas well as overtlyphilosophicaltrea-
tises.However,he does claimto be thefirstto takeup thesematters
"sua serie,"whichwe couldreasonably(ifnota littlefreely)interpret
as "pointby point,in theirown sequentialorder."This is not the
same as citingpassagesfromtheAeneidin isolation,as theyserveto
illustrate pointsin different
different contexts.IfLandinois claiming
to be the firstto providea thorough,systematic, scene by scene
interpretationof Virgil'sethicalcontent,thenwe can see how his
work differs fromthosewho turnedto theAeneidforsententiae and
uiberdie Hinfdlligkeitalles Irdischen,uiberTugend und Laster, uiberdas Gldck und

h6chste Gut, iiberJugend und Alter, Freundschaftund Dankbarkeit, Reichtum und
Geniigsamkeit,Stolz und Demuth, Ruhm und Bescheidenheitund dergleichenmehr.
Oft trittes deutlichhervor,dass der Autor philosophischeFlorilegienbesass und sich
aus ihnen unterrichtete, was Terentiusoder Virgilius,Cicero oder Boethius, Horatius
oder Augustinus uiberdieses oderjenes Thema gesagt" (Die Wiederbelebung des classis-
chenAlterthums, oderdas erstejahrhundert derHumanismus,ed. Max Lehnerdt,3rd ed.
[Berlin, i8931, 11,454).This passage has ramificationsthatdo not concernus now for
the history of philosophy, but by making Virgil a source for non-technicalmoral
philosophizing, it also has implicationsforliterarycriticism.Currentscholarshipon
Landino, unfortunately, has done littleto develop theseimplications.The introduction
to Thomas H. Stahel's translationof Books III and IV of theDisputationes ("Cristoforo
Landino's Allegorizationof the Aeneid:Books III and IV of the CamaldoleseDisputa-
tions," Diss. Johns Hopkins i968, pp. I5-2i), Eugen Wolfs general article on the
dialogue ("Die allegorische Vergilerklarung,"pp. 470-72), and Lentzen's study of
Landino on Dante (Studienzur Dante-Exegese,pp. I48-5 I) list a few of the most basic
humanistictexts containingmoral allegories of the Aeneid. Each of these secondary
works, however, has its focus elsewhere, so thatthe scope of Landino's source study
and its importanceforhis allegorizationshave remainedessentiallyunexamined.
exemplato adorn theirliteraryefforts.So interpreted, Landino's

claimis beginningto makesense.
Nevertheless,one question remains:did not Fulgentiusand
BernardusSilvestrisalso presentsystematic treatments of Virgil's
philosophicalcontent,treatments whichconsiderably antedateLan-
dino's?AlthoughLandino'sphrase"as faras I know" ("quod ego
quidemsciam")allowsforthepossibility thatrelevantmaterialmay
have escaped his attention,thisdoes not solve our problemhere,
sinceboththeExpositio and thecommentary of BernardusSilvestris
lefttheirimpacton the Disputationes.35 There are, however,two
relevantapproachesto thisquestion.Lookingat thecontextof Lan-
dino'sclaimfororiginality, we see thathe is distinguishing hisphilo-
sophicalinterpretation fromthe grammatical-rhetorical commen-
tarythathe reliedon inhisteaching,a genremuchappreciated bythe
humanists andgenerally identifiedwiththem.Ifin doingso Landino
is implicitlydistinguishing his interpretation of the Aeneidfrom
thoseof otherhumanists, his claimfororiginality is valid,sincethe
Disputationesis indeedthefirstthoroughphilosophical interpretation
oftheAeneidassociatedwiththenewlearning.Whatis more,we can
go one stepfurther ifwe tryagainto pindown themeaningof "sua
serie."BothFulgentius andBernardusSilvestris allegorizetheAeneid
in the orderin whichVirgilwroteit, beginningwithBook I and
takingup in turnBooks II, III, IV, and so forth.Landinoabandons
Virgil'sin mediasrespresentation and takesBooks II and III before
Book I. If "sua serie"indeedmeans"pointby point,in theirown
sequentialorder," then Landino is indeed the firstto provide a
straightforward accountof Virgil'sphilosophical contentfollowing
theactualchronologyofeventsratherthanVirgil'sliterary recasting
ofthem.
Thus, we see thatLandinois claimingto be thefirsthumanistto
producea systematic, properlyorderedinterpretation of themoral
philosophyin Virgil'sAeneid.This pointis worthestablishing be-
cause it gives us the properframeof reference withwhichto ap-
proachtheDisputationes. Landinowrotehisphilosophical analysisof
thepoem as a humanistcriticworkingself-consciously in thetradi-
tionof men like Petrarch,Boccaccio, Salutati,Poggio, and Bruni.
Thus it is onlyby readinghisworknextto theirsthatwe can fully
35Seeabove,notesI7 and i9.
whichis ofnecessity
appreciatehisachievement, and
bothderivative
innovative.
* * *
As thefirsthumanistto attempta systematic analysisofAeneidI-

VI accordingto theprinciples ofmoralphilosophy, Landinotookon
a more difficult task thanthosewho approachedthe poem as an
occasionalsourceof exemplaand sententiae. The observations of his
predecessors, of course,savedhimfromhavingto workout every
detailof his allegoryby himself.However,thetraditionof philo-
sophicalcommentary availableto Landinowas nota fullyconsistent
one, withone passageor scenefromtheAeneidalwaysreceivingthe
sameinterpretation by everycritic.Furthermore, themostcommon
treatment of anygivenpassagewas notnecessarily compatiblewith
thedevelopment ofLandino'sallegoryas a whole.Thus theDisputa-
tionesis theresultof a consciousreworkingof theVirgiliancritical
tradition,an effort to selectamong variousinterpretive optionsin
orderto producea complete,internally moralallegoryof
consistent
thefirstsixbooks oftheAeneid.
Accordingto Landino,Aeneasrepresents themanin searchofthe
summum bonum,thathighestgood ofthephilosophers whichis found
inknowledgeofthedivine.Thejourneyto Italyrepresents thestrug-
gle throughlifeto attainthatgoal. The ethicalfoundationforthis
journeyappearsin MacrobiusandPorphyry:
ForthedivinelyinspiredPlato,whenhehadtreated thesamevirtues pertaining
tolifeandconduct whichothers hadtreated, them
atlastseparated indifferent
ranks orkinds,so thatheshowsthattheyarepracticed inonewaybythose
wholovethepolitical assembly andthestate.Thevirtues arecultivated in
anotherwaybythosewhodesire toforget
every aspectoftheirmortality and,
movedbyhatred forthingshuman, areelevatedtotheknowledge ofdivine
mattersalone.Finally,
thevirtues ina third
arepracticed waybythosewho,
having beenpurified
bythistimefrom everycontagion,engage themselves in
divineaffairs
only.He thuscalledthesefirstvirtues"civic,"thesecondones
andthethird
"purgatorial," "thoseofa spirit
atlastpurified.". . . Thereis,
however, thisthingincommon toalltheseranks,thatifvirtue leadsthem,
theyguideeverythingtoward thestandardofthegoodandhonorable. 36
36"Divinus enim Plato, cum virtutesde vita et moribuseasdem quas ceteriposuis-

set, ita ad postremum illas diversis sive ordinibus sive generibus distinguit,ut alia
quadam rationeab fisillas coli ostendat,qui coetus ac civitatesadamant, alia ab uis,qui
omnem mortalitatemdediscere cupientes et humanarum rerum otio moti ad sola
Anyonewho wantsto attainheavenlyfelicity mustbeginwiththe

challengesof dailylivingand cultivatethevirtuesofsocialand civic
life.Whenable to withdrawfromthepressofhumanaffairs, he can
concentrate moreeasilyon thedivine,thoughhe willstillfindvices
to struggleagainst.Those who succeedin completely freeingthem-
selvesfromevilhaveattainedthesummum bonum.Landino'sallegori-
cal interpretation of the Aeneidis designedto show thatAeneas
makesthisethicaljourneythroughthegradations of virtueuntilhis
spiritis purged,as theDantecommentary explains:
Andthrough thatAeneas,havingarrived
allofthis[Virgil]showsallegorically
in Italy(thatis, at contemplation),
firstinvestigates
thenatureof thevices,
afterwards is purgedfromthem,and afterhavingbeen purged,is able to
contemplate thethingsinwhichhappiness consists.37
All threelevels of virtueare honorable, of course, but Aeneas' ethical
journey is from the lowest grade of virtue to the highest, so that
Landino's moral allegorybecomes an elevationof the contemplative
lifeover the active.38
Unfortunately,the path to heavenlyfelicityis not a directone, so
that Aeneas' journey is delayed by a series of moral impediments.
The firstof these is "lussuria," which Landino defines as unre-
itssymbolis Troy,thehome of Aeneas'youth.
strainedsensuality;
divina cognoscenda eriguntur,alia postremoab uis,qui ab omni iam contagioneexpiati

in solis divinis versantur.Primas igitur civiles dixit, secundas purgatoriasac tertias
animi iam purgati.... Est autem omnibus his ordinibus hoc commune, ut virtute
duce cuncta ad boni rectiquenormam dirigant"(Disputationes Camaldulenses,
pp. I 53-
54). One of Landino's sources forthegradationof virtuesis Macrobius, Com. insomn.
Scip. I8. 5-I 3; see Michael Murrin, The AllegoricalEpic, p. 22I, n. 67. Macrobius also
includes a fourthgradation,which existsin the mind of God itselfand fromwhich all
theothersdescend in order(i . 8. io). Since thiskindofvirtueis restrictedto themind of
God, thereis littlereason for Landino to referto it in his application of Macrobius'
schema to Aeneas' journey. In "An Inaugural Oration,' p. 239, n. i, Field notes that
Landino's discussion of the gradationsof virtuealso parallels thatof Porphyry'sDe
occasionibus sive causisad intelligibilia
nosducentibus,
which is takenfromPlotinus,Enn.
1,2 ("De virtutibus"),and thatLandino used thisdoctrineof the virtuesin his I462-63
commentary. Although Landino oftenechoed Ficino, we should note that Ficino's
work on Porphyryand Plotinus is laterthan the Disputationes;see Kristeller,Supple-
mentum
Ficinianum,
I,CXXVI-CXXVIII, CXXXV, CLVII-CLIX.
37"Etper questo tuttoallegoricamentedimostra[Virgiliolche giunto Enea in Italia
cio e alla contemplationeprima investigala naturadi vitii,di poi si purga da quelli, et
purgato puo contemplarele cose dove consistela beatitudine"'(fol. i6v).
38Foran opposing view of the relativeimportanceof the active and contemplative
lives in Landino's thought, see Field, "The Beginning of the Philosophical Renais-
sance," pp. 207, 234-36.
The secondimpediment is avarice,whichis represented by Thrace

and theHarpies.The thirdis ambition,theimmoderatedesirefor
politicalpoweras itappearsinjuno. The virtuousmancouldproceed
directlyto thesummum bonum wereit not forthesedetours,which
Landinorefers to inhisDantecommentary as "piacere,""utile,"and
"honore."39 As we mightexpect,thedramaofLandino'sallegorical
interpretation resultsfrom the tensionbetween Aeneas' ascent
throughthegradationofvirtuesandthesethreeobstacles.
Simply stated,the Disputationes Camaldulenses representsLan-
dino'seffort to placethemajorscenesfromthefirstsix books ofthe
Aeneidintothislargerpattern ofethicalconflictandgrowth.In order
to see how thisoverriding patternofinterpretation guidesLandino's
relationshipto thecriticalworkoftheotherhumanists, we shalllook
in turnat the role of "piacere,""utile,"and "honore" in Aeneas'
ethicaldevelopment.A briefexamination of Aeneas'descentto the
underworldfollows,at whichpointwe shouldbe ableto drawsome
generalconclusionsabouthow Landinousedthesourcesavailableto
him.
BeginningwithBook II, LandinoallegorizesTroy as thelifeof
sensualpleasures(Disp. Cam., p. J28).4() Aeneasloves thislifewhile
he is young,sinceeventhosewho finally attainheavenlyfelicity find
thatin youth,sense dominatesreason(p. 120). Anchises,who as
Aeneas'earthlyfather standsforsensuality, objectsat firstto leaving
Troy (p. 13i), and Parisis so addictedto sensualpleasurethathe
perisheswithhis city(p. I2i). But Aeneas'mother,who standsfor
love ofheavenlythings,appearsto herson and showshimthegods
strugglingto overthrowTroy (pp. 129-30). This moves him to
leave,thoughreluctantly, andtoovercomethetemptations ofsensu-
ality.
The associationofTroywiththesensuallifeis a commonplaceof
humanistthought.PetrarchlinksTroy to pleasurablelivingin his
letterallegorizingtheAeneid,and when Augustinein the Secretum
wantsto accuse theagingPetrarchof buryinghimselfin temporal
delights,he associateshim withthecityof Troy, lost to wine and
39The clearest explanation of this point may be found in the Commentary to

Dante's Commedia,fol. 6. As we shallsee, thesemoralunderpinningsplay a crucialrole
in the Disputationesas well.
40Inorder to avoid overburdeningthe notes, referencesto Landino's Disputationes
Camaldulenseswill be included in thetextfromthispointon.
sleepon thenightof itsdownfall(cf.Aen. 11.265).The mythology

manualsmakethisespeciallyclear;in Salutati'sDe laboribus Herculis,
forexample,Troy underkingPriamis synonymouswithdissolute
goes backto theJudgment
living.This associationin effect ofParis,
as Boccaccio explainsin theGenealogie, sinceeventhentheTrojan
shepherdrejectedtheactiveand contemplative offered
lifestyles by
JunoandMinervain favorofVenus'lifeofpleasures.41 Troyand the
Trojan princePariswere morallytaintedin humanistmythology,
and Landinosimplyabsorbsthisintohis allegoryas thefirstsource
ofconflict ("piacere")in Aeneas'ethicaldevelopment.
When we turnto Venus, however,thesituationbecomesmore
complex.Petrarch refersthreetimesto Venus'appearanceat theend
of Book II(11. 589ff.),whereshe shows Aeneashow the gods are
fighting over Troy and urgeshim to leave. The pointis thesame
each time:nothingdrivesmen further fromthedivinethansexual
love. In thesamevein,Boccaccio'sentryin theGenealogie associates
Venuswith"thelifeofpleasure, " makinghera godlycounterpart to
the cityof Troy.42Landino,however,prefersanotherapproach.
CitingPlato'sPhaedrus (266A-B)andSymposium (i8oD-E), he predi-
catestheexistenceoftwo Venuses,one "heavenly"("caelestis")and
the other "ordinary" ("vulgaris," pp. 125-26). This doctrineof the
two Venusesappearsin BernardusSilvestris,but it is developedat
lengthby MarsilioFicinoin his commentary to Plato'sSymposium,
wherehe distinguishes
theheavenlyVenus("intelligentia") fromthe
The mainstreamof
second one, the forceof sexual generation.43
41Petrarch, Sen. 4.4 and Secretum, pp. I80-82; Salutati,De laboribus Herculis,ed. B.
L. Ullman (Zurich, I95I), 1,252; and Boccaccio, Genealogie,1,304.
42Petrarch, Rerummemorandarum libri,ed. Giuseppe Billanovich, Edizione nazionale
delle opere di Francesco Petrarca,vol. 5, pt. Ia (Florence, 1943), p. 141; De sui ipsiuset
multorum ignorantia,in Opere latine,ed. AntoniettaBufano, 11,III2-I4; and Invective
contramedicum, 11,952. See also the Genealogie,I, I49.
43BernardusSilvestris,Commentary, pp. 9-i0, and Marsilio Ficino, Commentaire sur
le banquetde Platon,ed. R. Marcel (Paris, I956), pp. I 53-55. Ficino's Symposium com-
mentarywas completed in 1469, although a number of minor additions were made
later; see the introductionto Marcel's edition, pp. I I-4I; James A. Devereux, S.J.,
"The Textual History of Ficino's De amore,"RQ, 28 (I975), I73-74; and Kristeller,
Supplementum Ficinianum,I,CXXIII-CXV. As S. Gentilenotes ("Per la storiadel testo
del 'Commentarium in Convivium' di Marsilio Ficino," Rinascimento, 2 I [ I 98 I ], I 7),
Landino cites Ficino's commentaryon Plato's Symposium in Book IV of the Disputa-
tiones(p. 2I4). The doctrineof the two Venuses was popular among the Florentine
Neoplatonists; see Edgar Wind, Pagan Mysteries in theRenaissance(New Haven, 1958),
pp. I00-28.
humanistcriticism had associatedVirgil'sgoddesswiththesecond

Venus,butLandino'svisionofthepoemas a wholemovesAeneasto
the contemplation of thedivine,therealmof theheavenlyVenus.
Accordingly,Aeneas' motherappearsin Book II to takehim away
fromthecorporalpleasuresofTroy(pp. 125-26) andstarthimon the
pathto Landino'ssummum bonum. In usingVenusto extractAeneas
fromthesnaresofsensuality, Landinoturnsto thePlatoscholarship
of Ficinoratherthanthemoralallegoryof Petrarchand Boccaccio,
becausetheheavenlyVenusis sucha usefulcontribution to thedevel-
opmentof his philosophicalcommentary as a whole. At a point
wherethecriticaltradition
divides,Landinomakeshischoicewithan
eyeto thedevelopment ofhislargerallegoricalscheme.
The treatmentofAeneidIII in theDisputationesalso becomesmore
comprehensible whenwe readitwithone eyeon thehumanistcriti-
cal tradition.WhenAeneasleavesTroy,he landsfirstin Thrace,the
symbolof rapacity(p. 137). LeavingThrace,he proceedsto Crete
becausehismortalfather misinterpretstheoracletellinghimto seek
out hisorigin,to "know thyself'(pp. 138-4i), butthePenatesturn
AeneastowardItaly,theunderstanding ofheavenlyaffairs (pp. 141-
44). The steersman,however,is Palinurus,who represents theappe-
titethatobeys the sensesalone (passion)ratherthanthatwhichis
properlysubjectto reason(thatis, thewill;pp. 144-45). Undersuch
guidanceAeneas sailsoffcourseagain,thistimeto the Strophades
and to theHarpies,thesymbolsofavarice:
Nevertheless,notthat[vice]bywhich weseizefromthatsource
from
which it
isleastfitting
toseize-for Thrace hassignifiedthat
tous-butsomething
else,
whichisbrought aboutwhen,from thosethingswehavenowproduced,we
giveminimal assistance
tothosewhomlaw,nature, andthebondofhuman
societydemand thatweassist.
(p. 145)44
The prophetHelenus sendsAeneas on again to Italy,but firsthe
mustsail thetempestuoussea of appetite,a sea endangeredby the
Scyllaof dissipationand theCharybdisof avarice(p. 15i). Then he
encounters Polyphemus(theproudtyrant) andheadsoffto Carthage
(p. 156).
Ifwe searchdiligently
throughtheworksoftheearliercommenta-
44"Non illud [vitiumitamen, quo inde rapimus,unde minime convenit,-id enim
nobis Thracia designavit-verum aliud, quod tunc patratur,cum ex lis, quae iam
peperimus, minime illis subvenimus,quibus ius naturaqueac humanae societatisvin-
culum subveniendumpostulat."
tors,we can generally findsomeonewho haspresented thekeyparts

ofLandino'sallegoryin muchthesamemanneras he has. Interpreta-
tionsof Polyphemusas theproudtyrantand Scyllaas libidocan be
foundin the Genealogie deorum gentilium, and Palinurus'association
withunrestrained is paralleledin theothermajormytho-
sensuality
logicalsourcebookofearlyhumanism,Salutati'sDe laboribus Hercu-
lis. Ranginga littlefurtherafield,we can findin Macrobius a well-
knownexplanationof the"know thyself'oraclethatfitsLandino's
applicationofitto Aeneas'journeythroughlifeto heavenlyfelicity.
Boccaccio also citesVirgil'soutcryagainstgreedfromtheThracian
episode in his allegorizationof Dante's wolf,itselfthe symbolof
avaricein anotherallegoryofspiritual development.45 The mostfre-
quentlycitedpassageinthehumanistcriticism ofBook III, however,
is thedescription oftheHarpies,whoseassociationwithavaricecan
be tracedfromFulgentius and BernardusSilvestris throughtheearly
Renaissancemythographers to Poggio's treatiseon avarice,where
the analysisof thisincidentfromtheAeneidassumesa prominent
placein thediscussionA4
Once again, however,we mustdo more thancitesourcesand
parallelsto understand Landino'sachievement in theDisputationes.
WiththeexceptionoftheHarpies-avarice equation,thesesectionsof
Book III werenot particularly popularwithLandino'spredecessors
and contemporaries. Yet the allegoryof AeneidIII takesup more
spaceintheDisputationes thanthatgivento theDido material, which,
as we shallsee, was verypopularwiththehumanistcritics.Itis hard
450n Scylla, see Boccaccio, Genealogie,11,494;on Polyphemus, ibid., IIsoi (cf.

Fulgentius, Expositio Virgilianaecontinentiae, pp. 93-94); on Palinurus, see Salutati,
Epistolario,II, 230-3I; on the "know thyself' oracle, see Macrobius, Com. in somn.
Scip. I .9.3; on the Thracian episode, see Boccaccio, II comento, 1, I 82.
46Fulgentius,Mythologiarum libriIII (Basel, I570), fol. I24; Bernardus Silvestris,
Commentary, pp. 74-75; Boccaccio, Genealogie,11,529-30;Salutati,De laboribusHercu-
lis, 1,237-38; Poggio, De avaritia,pp. 254-56. Poggio's treatiseappears in two manu-
scripts exhibited at the Laurentianlibraryfrom October i980 to January i98i and
described in the catalogue to that exhibition,PoggioBracciolininel VI centenario della
nascita:codicie documentifiorentini, ed. Riccardo Fubini and Stefano Caroti (Florence,
I980). Item 29 includes theDe avaritiain a seriesof textstypicalof ecclesiasticalmoral-
izing, a seriesthatwas formedby Giovanni Dominici, generallyno friendto human-
ism. Item 30 includes the same treatiseamong a collectionof Bruni's works (p. i i).
Item 29 is especiallyinterestingbecause itsuggeststhatthehumanisticmoral commen-
taryto Virgil may have been reachingeven those who did not shareLandino's human-
ist inclinations.
to explainthisspecialinterestin one ofVirgil'slessappealingbooks,

untilwe considerLandino'sremarks hereas partofthedevelopment
of his moralallegoryas a whole. The threechiefimpediments to a
pilgrimage likeAeneas',we recall,aresensuality, greed,andpolitical
ambition.Landinofindssymbolsof thefirstof thesein Scylla,the
secondin Thrace,theHarpies,and Charybdis,and thethirdin Po-
lyphemus,so thatmaterialoflimitedinterest to othercommentators
is exactlywhat he needs at thispoint to develop his own moral
allegory.The difference is primarily one of emphasis,butit enables
us to pickup thekeypointsfromtheDisputationes moreaccurately
thanwould a readingthatlackedgrounding in thecritical
tradition.
Following the chronologicalratherthanthe dramaticorderof
eventsinthepoem,Landinoturnsnextto theencounter withJunoto
illustratehis thirdmoral impediment,the ambitiousyearningfor
politicalpower. For Landino,Junois thegoddessof politicalambi-
tion who becomesangryat Aeneasbecausehe does not seek after
honors and offices(p. 159). Juno driveshim to Carthage,a city
specialto herbecauseitrepresents theactivelife.Landinois carefulto
noteherethatCarthageandtheciviclifearepraiseworthy enoughin
themselves-we recallthatthecivicvirtuesare thefirststepon the
gradationof virtuesleadingto heavenlyfelicity.However, these
same qualitiesbecomean impediment whentheydistract a pilgrim
likeAeneasfromhishighergoal:
Therefore theyentera portof thiskindwho, havinglong strivenforthe
highestthingsandterrified atlastbythedifficulty
ofthetask,devotethemsel-
ves to a lifecentered
in humansociety;whentheyengagein thislifeandhave
refined themselves in thecivicvirtues,theycarryawayno ordinary praise.
Nevertheless theyarefarawayfromthatdivineexcellencewe seek.(p. 174)47
By thispoint,Aeneasshouldhaveloftier aspirations.
As we mightexpectby now, thereis some precedentfor the
associationofJunowiththeactivelife.Ifwe turnto themythogra-
phers,we findthatFulgentiusinterprets Junoin thisway in his
treatmentof theJudgmentof Paris, and Boccaccio in turncites
Fulgentiusin his entryon Junoin theGenealogie.48
This association
47'Huluscemodi igiturportum subeunt, qui suprema diu sectatiac postremo dif-

ficultatedeterritise in vitamsocialem conferunt,in qua civilibusvirtutibusexculticum
versenturlaudem non mediocrem reportant.Longe tamen ab ea divinitate,quam
quaerimus, absunt."
48Fulgentius,Mythologiae, fol. I29; Boccaccio, Genealogie,11,438.
was not a commonone, however,and thehumanistcriticsdid not

customarily bringit to bearexplicitly on theAeneid.Nevertheless,
we can findone clearprecedentforwhatLandinohas done. In his
appendixto thePhilebus commentary, MarsilioFicinoallegorizesthe
Judgment ofParisso thatMinervapresidesoverwisdom,Junoover
politicalpower, and Venus over sensualpleasure.Then he applies
thisto epic: "For thisreasonAeneas is represented as afflictedand
disturbedon accountofJuno,thatis, on accountof zeal forruling,
and in thesameway Ulyssesis harried."49 Thisis thesameinterpre-
tationpresented intheDisputationes, anditis easyto seetheattraction
it heldforLandino.His allegoryofAeneidII treatedsensuality, and
AeneidIII offered severalexamplesofavarice,leavingthisthirdmajor
impediment to ethicalprogressunexamined exceptfora brieflook at
Polyphemusas tyrant.Ficino'sanalysisofJunooffers whatamounts
to a starting
point forthat examination.
Whenhe turnsto theDido materialin Book IV, Landinocarries
throughthissame approachin whatbecomeshis mostremarkable
departurefromthegeneralcriticaltradition ofAeneidcommentary.
Book IV was immensely popularwiththehumanist critics,
butcom-
mentatorsfromPetrarchonwardhad agreedthatthephilosophical
problemsraisedherecenteron love and sensualtemptation. This is
not to say thatall the humanistcriticsextractedexactlythe same
lessonsfromthisstory.Petrarch,forexample,concludesa discus-
sion offemalechastity in De remediis by glancingat
utriusquefortunae
Dido and concludingthatonlymencouldbe steadfast and loyal.In
his treatiseon moral philosophy,Filelfoquotes Virgil'sfamous
maxim on the ficklenessof women (Aen. IV. 569-70) in orderto
contrast therationalpowersofmenwiththepowerfulsensualforces
dominatingwomen,children, and animals.Vegio's treatise on edu-
cationmakesDido an exemplum forall womenon thebitterfruits of
49"ProptereafingiturAeneas objunonem perturbationevexatus,id est, ob studium

imperandi,eademque rationeagitaturUlixes" (The 'Philebus'Commentary, ed. M. J.B.
Allen, p. IO). In anotherconsiderationof the goddesses Minerva,Juno,and Venus and
what theystand for,Ficino gives a more precisedefinitionofJuno'srealm-"Under the
titleof 'politicalpower,' we considerto be includedauthorityin government,civic and
militaryalike, the abundance of wealth and the distinctionof glory, and the talent
associated with business" ("Sub appellatione potentiaeauthoritatemin gubernatione
civili pariteratque militari,divitiarumqueaffluentiamet splendorem gloriae, nego-
tiosamque virtutemcomprehendiputamus"; Epistulae,in Opera omnia,ed. M.Sanci-
priano [Basel, 1576; rpt.Turin, 1959], vol. II, fol. 919).
libido,a pointwell suitedto thispedagogicalcontext.To be sure,

criticslikeBoccaccioand Salutatifocuson Aeneas,buttheydo so to
praisehim forescapingDido's carnalsnares.5"1 No matterwhatthe
context,the Carthaginian episodeled to a discussionof voluptasin
earlyhumanistic criticism.
Obviously, Landino could not ignorethistraditional approach
completely.Thus when he introducesDido, he explainsthather
demiseshows thefallfromtemperance throughcontinenceand in-
continenceto intemperance, as libidorisesup and takescontrolof
her.But he movesimmediately to shiftthecontextofthediscussion
byattributing Dido's downfallto thefactthathervirtuesarethoseof
theciviclife,and thusinchoate,notabsolute(pp. i82-83). Now the
deepermeaningof Book IV turnson a different problem,theambi-
tiousyearningforpoliticalpower:
WhenVirgilsaysthesethings, he depictstheciviclifewithalmostdivine
wisdom.Indeed,whenmenengagein thislifewithsucha lofty spirit
that,
scorningthingshuman, theya little
afterward
areabouttogo from thisfirst
classofvirtues
tothosewhicharecalled"purgatorial,"andfrom there
finally
theystrivetoreachthosevirtueswhichare"6fa purified
spirit,"
nevertheless
theyareso enervated
bytheluresofearthly affairs
thattheyalmost forgetthe
heavenlyvirtueswhichtheyhadsetas their Forinstance,
soleobjective. pas-
sionforrulinglongstojoin Aeneasto Dido, thatis, moreover, to setan
manovera kingdom.(pp. I 84-85)51
eminent
ForLandino,AeneasandDido areindeedunitedbylust,butitis lust
forpoliticalpower,so thattheirdescentintothecave to escapethe
stormbecomesa descentto politicaloffice(p. I 85). And thewarning
fromMercurythatsendsAeneasaway fromCarthagefinallyforces
himto abandonkingdomsand powersin favorofthehighervirtues
5')Petrarch,De remediisutriusquefortunae (Cremona, 1492), sig. 1ir (cf. Liber sine

nomine,in Petrarcas'Buch ohneNamen' und die pipstlicheKurie, ed. Paul Piur [Halle/
Saale, 1925], p. i85); Filelfo,De moralidisciplina,fol. 41; Vegio, De educatione,
pp. 87-
88; Boccaccio, Genealogie,11,722-23 (cf. Petrarch,Sen. 4.4); and Salutati,Epistolario,
111,233, 235.
51"Quae cum dicit Maro, divina paene sapientia vitam socialem depingit. In qua
cum ita quidem excelso animo versentur,ut humana contemnentesex hoc primo
virtutumgenere paulo post in eas venturisint,quas purgatoriasappellant,atque inde
ad illas tandem,quae suntanimi purgati,pervenirecontendant,tamenillecebrisrerum
terrenarumita molliuntur,ut caelestium,quas sibi solas proposuerant,paene oblivis-
cantur.Libido enim imperandiAeneam Didoni coniungere,id autem est virumexcel-
lentemregno praeficerecupit."
(p. 194). Thisis notthemoralunderpinning thatLandino'spredeces-

sorsand contemporaries identifiedin AeneidIV; rather,it is theone
thathe needs at thispointin his allegoricalstudy,a pointwhere
Aeneashasconqueredotherpassionsandvices(p. 194). ForLandino,
theultimatesignificance of theCarthageepisodeis determined not
by previouscommentary on Book IV, but by the need to move
Aeneas beyond the thirdand finalstumblingblock in his ethical
journey.At thispoint,we see Landinotheinnovatormostclearly.
Having overcome the major impedimentsto moral growth,
Aeneasis now readyforthenextphasein hisethicaldevelopment,
thedescentto theunderworld.Everything Aeneashas done so far
leadsup to this,so thatLandinois especiallycarefulto pindown the
allegoricalsignificanceofAeneidVI. He identifies fivepossibleinter-
pretations ofthedescensus ad inferos:
For thatheadlong fall of spiritsfromthe highestheaven into these bodies is
believedby Plato to be a descentto theunderworld.Christianstrulywarn that
the souls of the guiltyare drawn fromtheirown bodies to the underworld.
Likewise, we say thatliving men descend to the underworldwhen theyfall
into vice. There are also those who believe thatby magic and incantations
certaindescents,so to speak, come about, so thatspiritscan be called forth
from this. But beyond these four descents,thereis a fifthwhich, it seems,
oughtnot to be omitted,forwe also directour courseto theunderworldwhen
we cast thelightof our reasonand our effortinto speculatingon thenatureof
evil and of all thevices. (p. 21 8)52
Though each of theseare interpretive Landinopasses
possibilities,
quicklyover thefirstfourbecausetheyare not exactlywhathe is
interested
inhere.The virtuousherowho hasarrivedatthethreshold
of theunderworldhas progressedwell on thepathto thesummum
bonum,so thatthe Christianpunishment forsin and thefigurative
fallinginto vice recedeinto the background.Magic has a certain
disreputableflavorto it,andthedescentofspiritintobodyis notthe
mostimportant partofLandino,'s intheAeneid.The essential
interest
52"Nam praecipitatioilla animorum a supremo caelo in haec corpora ad inferos

descensus esse a Platone creditur.Christianivero scelestorumanimas e suis corporibus
ad inferostrahiadmonent. Dicimus itidemviventeshomines,cum in vitialabuntur,ad
inferosruere. Sunt quoque qui credantmagicis artibuset carminibusfieriveluti des-
census quidam, ut inde evocari animae possint. Verum praeterhos quattuordescensus
quintus qui est non videturomittendus:nam et ad inferostendimus,cum lumen ra-
tionis nostraeac industriamin mali ac omnium vitiorumnaturamspeculandam deici-
mus.
natureofvirtueandvice,however,is atthecenterofLandino'sstudy
ofVirgil,and theherowho has successfully struggled withsensual-
ity,greed,and politicalambitionwould clearlybenefitfroma basic
theoretical knowledgeofmoralphilosophy.Thus Landinobaseshis
analysison the fifthtypeof descensus the contemplative
ad inferos,
inquiryintothenatureofvice.
Once thispatternhasbeenestablished, Landino'sobservations on
thevariousscenesof Book VI becomestagesin thecontemplative
processby which Aeneas deepenshis understanding of rightand
wrong. The Sibyl,forexample,is his guide on the quest forthe
summum bonum(p. 205), and thegoldenbough represents wisdom
itself(pp. 224-26). Misenusrepresents temporalglory,whichmust
be buriedandleftbehindby anyonewho seeksethicalmaturity (pp.
226-29). Charon standsforfreewill (pp. 237-40), and Cerberus'
barkingsignifies thatbodilyneed forfood,drink,and sleepthatso
oftendrawsus to vice(pp. 241-42). The GreatSinnerswarnus about
thesufferings of thewickedafterdeath(pp. 251-53), whilethestop
intheElysianfieldsleadsto a Platonicjustification
forvirtuousliving
(p. 253). By thetimeAeneaspassesoutoftheivorygate,hehascome
to understand how man is rewardedor punishedafterdeathon the
basisofhislifeon earth,and thuswhyone shouldstruggleas he has
againstsensuality, greed,andambition.
As we mightexpect,itis possibleto tracesourcesandparallelsfor
Landino'sinterpretations ofmostofthesescenes.53 Theseallegorical
observationsare ultimately important not in themselves,however,
530n the Sibyl, see BernardusSilvestris,Commentary, p. 3 I. On the golden bough,

see Fulgentius,Expositio Virgilianaecontinentiae, p. 96; Bernardus Silvestris,Commen-
tary,p. 58; and Salutati,De laboribus
Herculis,I, i i and 11,573-77.Misenus is interpreted
as temporal glory in Fulgentius, Expositio Virgilianaecontinentiae, pp. 95-96, and
Bernardus Silvestris,Commentary, p. 6o. Charon as freewill is presentedin greatdetail
in both Salutati's De laboribusHerculis,II,556-57, 563-69, and in the Disputationes,so
thatCharon is old because nothingis older thanthespiritendowed withfreechoice; his
two eyes show that the will is freeto incline toward eitherreason or passion; his
garmentis filthybecause it stands forthe body, which clothesthe soul, and so forth.
Cerberus' barkingis allegorized in theDe laboribus Herculis,11,539-40.Representative
treatmentsof the Great Sinnersmay be found in Fulgentius,ExpositioVirgilianaecon-
tinentiae,pp. 99-ioi; Macrobius, Com. insomn.Scip. I.IO.i2-i5; BernardusSilvestris,
Commentary, pp. io8-12; and Boccaccio, Genealogie,1,44-46, 154-57, 262, and 11,467-
68, 667 and II comento, 1,94-96. On Virgil's Elysian Fields, see Boccaccio, Genealogie,
1,78-79, and Salutati,De laboribusHerculis,11,443,533-34, and De seculoetreligions, ed.
B. L. Ullman (Florence, 1957), p. 74.
but as partof a largereffortto reacha basicunderstanding of virtue

and vice throughcontemplation. This largerinterpretive pattern,
Landino'sdescensus is also nothisown invention;
ad inferos, itmaybe
foundin BernardusSilvestris'Virgilcommentary and in Salutati's
De laboribus But thefactthatwe have identified
Herculis.54 a source
forthisschemeshouldnot blind us to the factthatmost humanist
criticsdidnotimposethispattern on AeneidVI. Itappealsto Landino
becauseitgiveshima starting pointforsolvinghismostbasicprob-
lem,thatofincorporating themassofdetailpresented by Virgiland
his criticsintoa unified,internally consistentethicalsystem.Inter-
pretedin thisway, Aeneas'tripto theunderworld providesa theo-
reticalunderpinning forthemoralallegorythatprecedesit,an expla-
nationof vice and itsconsequencesthatroundsoffthediscussionof
"piacere,""utile,"and "honore."Thus Landino'sallegoryofBook
VI providesa fitting conclusionto hisanalysisofthefirsthalfofthe
Aeneid.
At thispoint,we arein a positionto evaluateLandino'sachieve-
mentin theDisputationes Camaldulenses. He was nottheoriginator of
each and everydetailpresented in his allegory,as we have seen,so
thattheequationof Troy withsensuality, theHarpieswithavarice,
and Charonwithfreewillwerepurelyderivative on hispart,tradi-
tionalassociationsthathe pickedup as theyfithis needs.Yet Lan-
dino'sallegorization cannotbe dismissedas theproductofmindless,
passivereception.The effort to unifytherandomobservations ofhis
predecessors and contemporaries intoan allegorywithdirection and
consistency forcedLandinoto imposehis own visiononto whathe
found.Common associationslike Venus and sensualitywere dis-
cardedwhen theydid not advancehis argument,and materialthat
held comparativelylittleinterestfor most early humanists(like
AeneidIII) receivedsignificant discussionwhenthe criticalcontext
demandedit. Whenpushed,as he was withtheDido material,Lan-
dino was willingto radicallyreorient thetraditionalapproachto the
poem, providedthatby so doing,he could move Aeneasone step
further towardthesummum bonum.
The resultis an Aeneidthatwe mayno longerrecognize,one in
54BernardusSilvestris,Commentary, ad in-
p. 30 presentsfour of the fivedescensuis
feros,with the descent by magic omitted; Salutati's discussion may be found in De
laboribusHerculis,pp. 6oo-oi.
whicheverysceneis partofa larger,all-embracing allegoricalstrug-

gle. Aeneas remainsa hero,but one of a different kindfromthat
traditionallyassociatedwithclassicalepic. The significant
realmof
heroic activityis no longerHorace's "deeds of kings and com-
manders,and dolefulwars" (Arspoetica 73), butthementalandspir-
itualbattlefield
on whichmanstruggles forvirtue.As he putsitinhis
1488 commentary, "trulythereis needfortheheroicvirtuesifany-
one wishesto endurethisdifficult speculativeundertaking."55Those
criticswho had gonebeforeLandino,of course,had takententative
stepsinthisdirectionwhenevertheyappliedsectionsfromtheAeneid
to theirspeculations
in thisarea.Yet Landinowas, as he claims,the
firsthumanistto providea detailed,systematic explicationof the
Aeneidaccordingto theprinciples ofmoralphilosophy.In thecom-
pletenessofitstreatmentandthepopularity ofitscontent,Landino's
analysisofVirgilhada greaterimpacton thestudyoftheAeneidthan
the work of any otherhumanistof his time. The contemplative
journeyof Landino'sAeneidthusmarksan importantstagein the
historyofVirgiliancriticism.
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
tolerare
5" 'Heroicae enim virtutesopus sunt si quis hanc speculandi difficultatem
vult," fol. 2 1gv.

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Cristoforo Landino's Aeneid and the Humanist Critical Tradition

Author(s): Craig Kallendorf

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*Researchforthisarticlewas supportedbygrantsfromtheNewberry Libraryand

dialogue,written in 1472 andseta fewyearsearlierin themonastery

gestingthattheseminalpointsin theDisputationes werealreadycir-

5Referencesto the I488 commentaryare to Vergilius cumicommnentariisquinque(Ven-

more,Landino'scommentaries presented atleastsomeofhisallegor-

9Informationon Landino's publishedcommentarymay be foundin Giuliano Mam-

studiesdo not focusin detailon theAeneiditselfand on how the

Whencalledto teachrhetoric andpoetryattheFlorentine Studium,

phy,foryouwishto knowwhatVirgilmeantinhismysteries concerning

This passage raisestwo questionsforthemodernscholarwho ap-

13''Quod autem petis, id et multo diviniusest et magis in obscuro latetet a nullo,

The contentofpoetry,in otherwords,consistsofpreceptsforliving

16"Quod autem ad bene beateque vivendumpertinet,quis non videat omnia quibus

works of Fulgentius,forinstance,and theircongruenceof aim is

"7Thetextappears in Fulgentius'Opera,ed. RudolfusHelm (Leipzig, I 898), pp. 8 i-

Bernardus.2" We cannotevensaythatLandinowas thefirsthumanist

For Filelfo,as forLandino,theAeneidmustbe interpreted "fromthe

evenservesas a minorcharacter intheDisputationes.Thus we would

zen in his Studienzur Dante-Exegese,pp. I53-54, n. 48). Likewise, Landino describes

To complicatemattersstillfurther,we shouldremember thatthe

For Boccaccio,as forLandino,theAeneidis a sourcebookin applied

28"Legant et perlegant,que sint in Eneida ad patientiamlaborum emergentium

MaffeoVegio's De educations liberorumeteorum clarismoribus.Poetry

tionsand allusionsin the Disputationesitself,indicatethathe was

uiberdie Hinfdlligkeitalles Irdischen,uiberTugend und Laster, uiberdas Gldck und

exemplato adorn theirliteraryefforts.So interpreted, Landino's

35Seeabove,notesI7 and i9.

As thefirsthumanistto attempta systematic analysisofAeneidI-

36"Divinus enim Plato, cum virtutesde vita et moribuseasdem quas ceteriposuis-

Anyonewho wantsto attainheavenlyfelicity mustbeginwiththe

divina cognoscenda eriguntur,alia postremoab uis,qui ab omni iam contagioneexpiati

The secondimpediment is avarice,whichis represented by Thrace

39The clearest explanation of this point may be found in the Commentary to

sleepon thenightof itsdownfall(cf.Aen. 11.265).The mythology

humanistcriticism had associatedVirgil'sgoddesswiththesecond

tors,we can generally findsomeonewho haspresented thekeyparts

450n Scylla, see Boccaccio, Genealogie,11,494;on Polyphemus, ibid., IIsoi (cf.

to explainthisspecialinterestin one ofVirgil'slessappealingbooks,

47'Huluscemodi igiturportum subeunt, qui suprema diu sectatiac postremo dif-

was not a commonone, however,and thehumanistcriticsdid not

49"ProptereafingiturAeneas objunonem perturbationevexatus,id est, ob studium

libido,a pointwell suitedto thispedagogicalcontext.To be sure,

5')Petrarch,De remediisutriusquefortunae (Cremona, 1492), sig. 1ir (cf. Liber sine

(p. 194). Thisis notthemoralunderpinning thatLandino'spredeces-

52"Nam praecipitatioilla animorum a supremo caelo in haec corpora ad inferos

530n the Sibyl, see BernardusSilvestris,Commentary, p. 3 I. On the golden bough,

but as partof a largereffortto reacha basicunderstanding of virtue

whicheverysceneis partofa larger,all-embracing allegoricalstrug-

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