Nectit enim homo res mundanas cum divinis. L’epistola dedicatoria di Dino del Garbo a Roberto d’Angiò: edizione e studio delle fonti

Abstract

The dedicatory epistle placed as a prologue to Dino del Garbo’s Expositio super canones generales de virtutibus medicamentorum simplicium on the second book of Avicenna’s Canon constitutes the formal act through which the Florentine physician presents this work, together with the Dilucidatorium totius practice generalis medicinalis artis, to Robert of Anjou. From its opening lines, the prologue foregrounds the theme of human dignity, defining the human being – maxime proprium – as the nexus Dei et mundi. Through a sequence of citations – predominantly Aristotelian – Dino develops an argument that presents the human being as uniquely capable of mediating between the divine and the mundane orders, thereby framing the medical works dedicated to the Angevin king within a broader philosophical horizon. This article provides a critical edition of the prologue together with a study of its sources, situating its argument within the textual tradition of the dignitas hominis. By reconstructing the philosophical background of the text within the intellectual climate of early fourteenth-century Italy, the study aims to distinguish elements deriving from this shared doctrinal horizon from those reflecting Dino’s own theoretical orientation.