Giovanni Pico della Mirandola

Although Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) died at the early age of thirty-one, his intelligence, courage, and unbridled curiosity about all things made him both the embodiment of Renaissance principles and an influence on other Renaissance figures. As a student, he mastered religion and philosophy as well as Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Arabic, and Aramaic. From these diverse sources he created his own world philosophy, which he expressed in nine hundred propositions about philosophy and religion. At the age of only twenty-four, he confidently invited the leading scholars of Europe to come to Rome, where he would defend his propositions against any of their challenges. The "Oration on the Dignity of Man" excerpted below was composed as an introductory speech for this occasion.

Pico's major contribution, as displayed in this essay, is his articulate and passionate expression...