Towards a Critical Edition of Michele Savonarola’s Speculum Physionomiae

Savonarola’s Speculum physionomiae, dedicated to Leonello of Este and dated 1442, is extant in three manuscripts: Leipzig, UB, 3472 (Hänel), Venice, Marc. lat. VI. 156 (2672), and Paris, BnF, lat. 7357. The Leipzig manuscript conveys a different textual redaction from that of Venice and Paris. Neither Lynn Thorndike nor Jole Agrimi, who dealt in the past with Savonarola’s treatise, were acquainted with the Leipzig copy, although it appears in the list of manuscripts owned by Gustav Hänel published in 1846. It was then first noticed by Kristeller, and more recently by Thomann. By showcasing some text samples, the paper illustrates the differences between the two redactions, proposes a stemma codicum and engages with Savonarola’s use of his sources. The distinctive contributions of the Speculum, as compared to the earlier tradition of the discipline, is also briefly outlined. Particularly evident is the extensive use of exempla, anecdotes, clinical cases concerning contemporaries, proverbs, and poems, which together define a kind of “epistemology of particulars”.