Antonio Manetti (1423–1497)
Born 1423 CE, died 1497 CE.
Antonio di Tuccio Manetti (6 July 1423 – May 26, 1497) was an Italian mathematician and architect from Florence. He is particularly noted for his investigations into the site, shape and size of Dante's Inferno. Although Manetti never himself published his research regarding the topic, the earliest Renaissance Florentine editors of the poem, Cristoforo Landino and Girolamo Benivieni, reported the results of his research in their respective editions of the Divine Comedy. Manetti is also famous for his short story, "The Fat Woodworker", which recounts a cruel practical joke devised by Brunelleschi. Furthermore, his supposed authorship of the biography of Filippo Brunelleschi has been widely discussed and analyzed. Manetti was further a member of the Arte di Por Santa Maria (also known as Arte della Seta), one of the seven Arti Maggiori guilds of Florence. Born to a family of silk merchants, Manetti not only received an excellent education but was confronted with ample free time in which he was able to cultivate his many interests, which included mathematics, geometry, astronomy and philosophy.
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