Occupation Bishop of Fiesole Role 1531–1595 | Name Francesco da Died November 4, 1595 | |
Other names Francesco Cattani da Diacceto il Giovane | ||
Francesco Cattani da Diacceto (2 September 1531 – 4 November 1595), often referred to as Francesco Cattani da Diacceto il Giovane in order to distinguish him from his grandfather, the philosopher Francesco di Zanobi Cattani da Diacceto (1466–1522), was Bishop of Fiesole and author of several works including an Essamerone ("Hexameron") and a translation into vernacular Florentine Italian of the Hexameron of Saint Ambrose.
Contents
Life
Francesco Cattani di Diacceto was born on 2 September 1531 to Dionigi Cattani di Diacceto and Maria di Guglielmo Martini. His father was one of the thirteen children of the noted philosopher Francesco di Zanobi Cattani da Diacceto, sometimes dubbed "Il Vecchio" or "Il Pagonazzo" to distinguish him from his grandson.
In 1546 Cattani became a canon of the Cathedral of Florence, and by 1558 was an apostolic pronotary. On the 11 August 1570 he was named Bishop of Fiesole, on the retirement of his uncle Angelo Cattani da Diacceto from that post. During the 25 years of his tenure he completed the construction, begun by his uncle, of the monastery of Santa Maria della Neve at Pratovecchio; restored the oratory of San Iacopo in Fiesole and the church of Santa Maria in Campo in Florence, and supervised the restoration of the Cathedral of Fiesole, giving the apse its present form.
Cattani had studied civil law and theology, and as a young man had frequented the Accademia fiorentina. He was a prolific writer on religious topics. He attempted to collect and publish the works, in Latin and Italian, of his grandfather Francesco di Zanobi Cattani da Diacceto, and commissioned Benedetto Varchi to write his biography. This was published together with the Tre libri d’amore e un panegirico all’amore of the elder Cattani in Venice in 1561.
Francesco Cattani di Diacceto died on 4 November 1595; he was buried in the Oratory of S. Jacopo in the Bishop's Palace of Fiesole.
Works
The published works of Francesco Cattani da Diacceto il Giovane include: