Writings on the Medieval Thought

This volume collects previously published materials that the author has combined to bear witness the undivided attention that began with his initial interest in historiography. It originated in the university years, towards philosophy, aesthetics and medieval semiotics. The studies in the field of medieval aesthetics, in particular that of Thomas of Aquino, are combined with the studies in the field of semantics on Porphyry's Introduction to Categories; here are included also Ecco's reflections on the medieval good fortune of Aristotle's interpretation of metaphor, multifaceted searches on the language of animals, falsification, recycling techniques during the Middle Ages, texts by Beatus of Liébana and the literature of the Apocalypse, Dante, Ramon Llull and the llullism, modern interpretations of Thomistic aesthetics, including on Joyce's lyrics during his early period.

The second part includes not so strictly academic studies, so as to enable non-specialists to appreciate medieval thought and its glare in the modern age. They contain reflections on embryos, according to Thomas of Aquino, the aesthetics of light in Dante's Paradise, Marco Polo's Il Milione, the Irish miniature, and the Late Middle Ages one, both visually documented on several pages in the book. These are papers that cover a period of sixty years. Their original spirit is fully preserved, though the author has polish them both bibliographically and editorially to avoid, though not entirely, some repetitions and revisions to the hinted topics.