PUBLICATION OF THE MEETING PAPERS “PICO AND KABBALAH”

The publication of the papers of the meeting on Giovanni Pico and Kabbalah, edited by the Prof. Fabrizio Lelli is scheduled, by the series “Pico Studies”, Olschki editore. The meeting was held in 2007. It is an important volume, where the interferences between the Italian Kabbalah of the Fifteenth Century and the Pico thought are reported. Due to the difficulty of defining only one typology of Kabbalah in the Italy of the Fifteenth Century, crossroads of the most different interpretations of the Jewish discipline, the meeting widely dealt with the definition of the different speculative orientations of the Jewish Kabbalah in Pico Italy, by keeping in mond their dependence on models derived by the past as well as the strong influence of the non Jewish humanistic culture on the Italian Judaism of the XV century.

PUBLICATION OF THE MEETING PAPERS “SAINT POSIDONIUS AND SAINT AUGUSTINE. IDENTITY, CULT AND TRADITION”

The meeting was held in December 2009 and was attended by a great number of scholars committed in the in-depth knowledge of historical, philosophical and religious main themes. It was the occasion for looking over some aspects relating to the figure of a saint with a multiform and uncertain profile, such as Posidonius or Possidius, who lived in the IV / V century and is venerated at Mirandola. He was compared with the outstanding aspects of the thought of Saint Augustine of Hippo, main character in the Western philosophical and religious history..

PUBBLICATION OF THE "LETTERS" OF GIOVANNI PICO

The publication of the Pico “Letters” represent an ambitious objective of great signficance in the context of the studies on the Philosopher.
The work involves a careful and complicated analysis of the sources – manuscripts, incunables and XV editions - relating to letters of or to Giovanni, a kind of material which is an excellent and unavoidable instrument for knowing the thought of Pico.

RECURRENCES RELATING TO THE SEIGNIORY OF THE PICO FAMILY AND TO THE HISTORY OF MIRANDOLA

In 2011, the anniversaries of two important dates for the history of Mirandola will be celebrated. In fact, it will be remembered the beginning of the Pico dynasty, with the investiture of the emperor Henry VII in 1311. And, at the same time, it will also be remembered the end of the Pico governorate on the City, when, in 1711, the Estense entered Mirandola, after acquiring the territory of the seigniory auctioned by the emperor, who declared the Pico failed, as guilty of betrayal and felony towards the imperial authority. There is also another important event for the City, the famous siege of Pope Julius II, which culminated in the month of January 1511.
The Pico Centre will collaborate with the Municipality of Mirandola to celebrate these recurrences worthily.

GIOVAN FRANCESCO PICO PROJECT

The Centre, along the years, has been trying to pay a certain attention to a remarkable figure, such as Giovan Francesco Pico. It has been tried to follow the invitation of Eugenio Garin, who, when he came to Mirandola for the last time, in 1994, during the meeting on Pico, had the opportunity of highlighting the necessity of increasing the study on the nephew of Giovanni Pico.
We deem now, appropriate, to formulate a real organic project dedicated to Giovan Francesco Pico, by defining a series of interventions to be developed within a framework of many years.
In particular, the interest will focus on :
- the publication of the most important works of Giovan Francesco Pico;
- in-depth examination of the aspects correlated to the biography of Giovan Francesco Pico;
- Giovan Francesco Pico and witchcraft;
- Giovan Francesco Pico and the numismatic production.

“THE GENIUS OF THE ITALIANS. PICO AND THE OTHERS BETWEEN POSITIVISM AND FASCISM”

The organization of a seminary is scheduled. It will be focused on the concept of the man of genius worked out in the historiography of the XIX and XX centuries. The topic will be dealt with particular reference to the studies on Positivism in Italy and in Europe, and, obviously, to Lombroso and his school. Particular attention will have to be paid to examplary figures of the man of genius, Giovanni Pico and other excellent characters of the Renaissance, seen through the tradition of the positivist studies. A reading of these figures (Pico, Ficino, Lorenzo il Magnifico, Lion X, Hector Fieramosca etc.) can also be carried out through novels, movies and also cartoons and publicity from the end of the XIX century to nowadays.