Research

My research on the Jewish philosopher Judah Abarbanel (aka, Leone Ebreo, c. 1470-1534) has been funded by the Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia (2015-2018) and the Maimonides Centre fro Advanced Studies – Jewish Skepticism (2019-2020). The research aims at reconstructing Judah’s humanistic library and contextualizing his thought within the Italian culture of antiquarianism.

My research on the French polymath Guillaume Postel (1510-1581) aims at contextualize Postel’s political universalism from a broader and transregional perspective, assessing the role of Arabic sources and Postel’s interest in the Ottoman Empire. It has received funding from the Kristeller-Popkin Travel Fellowship sponsored by the Journal of History of Philosophy (2020), the Max Weber Program at the European University institute (2020-2021), and, between 2022 and 2025, from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 101025084, “PostelEast.“

Articles and book chapters

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Arabic Geography and Sixteenth-Century Cartography: Guillaume Postel and the History of Abū al-Fidāʾ’s Manuscript.” In Travelling Matters: Rereading, Reshaping, and Reusing Objects Across the Mediterranean, ed. by Beatrice Falcucci, Emanuele Giusti, Davide Trentacoste. Turnhout: Brepols, in press.

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Antiquarianism or Taḥqīq? Guillaume Postel’s Reading of Abu ʾl-Fidā’s Taqwīm al-Buldān.” Journal of Early Modern History 27 (2023), no. 4: 338–352. DOI: 10.1163/15700658-bja10071

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Questioning Traditions. Readings of Annius of Viterbo’s Antiquitates in the Cinquecento: The Case of Judah Abarbanel.” In Maimonides Review of Philosophy and Religion, ed. by Ze’ev Strauss and Isaac Slater, vol. II, 131-166. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2023. DOI: 10.1163/9789004508668_005

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Beyond Marsilio Ficino? Judah Abarbanel, Francesco Cattani da Diacceto, and the Renaissance Convivium.” Materia Giudaica 27 (2022): 515–527. ISSN 2282-4499

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Postel, Guillaume.” IIn Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. Marco Sgarbi, 2665-2672. Cham: Springer, 2022. DOI:  10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_655-1

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Abravanel, Leon.” In Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, ed. Marco Sgarbi, 7-15. Cham: Springer, 2022. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_775-1

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Burckhardt, Jacob.” In Encyclopedia of Renaissance Philosophy, edited by Marco Sgarbi, 538-540. Cham: Springer, 2022. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-02848-4_577-1

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria, and Guidi, Simone. “Subjects Beyond Themselves. Ecstasy and Vision in Western Thought.”  Lo Sguardo 33, no. 2 (2021 [2022]): 7-21. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6885394

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Metafore d’amore tra filosofia della natura e filosofia pichiana nei Dialoghi d’amore di Yehudah Abarbanel (Leone Ebreo).” In Letteratura e Scienze. Atti delle sessioni parallele del XXIII Congresso dell’ADI (Associazione degli Italianisti) Pisa, 12-14 settembre 2019, ed. by Alberto Casadei, Francesca Fedi, Annalisa Nacinovich, Andrea Torre, 1-10. Roma: Adi editore, 2021. ISBN: 978-88-907905-7-7

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Yehudah Abarbanel’s Astromythology: in the Footsteps of Marsilio Ficino’s Prisca Theologia.” Bruniana & Campanelliana 26, no. 2 (2020): 437–452. DOI: 10.19272/202004102006

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “«Basta creder fermamente quel che la ragione non reprova»: la renovatio ficiniana in un passo sulla creazione dei Dialoghi d’Amore di Yehudah Abarbanel.” Rivista di Storia della Filosofia 75, no. 3 (2020): 381–407. DOI: 10.3280/SF2020-003002

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria, and Pischedda, Luigi Emilio Pischedda. “Dissenso ed eterodossia nel pensiero ebraico. Prefazione.” Rivista di Storia della Filosofia 75, no. 3 (2020): 367–379. DOI: 10.3280/SF2020-003001

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Yehudah Abravanel e l’eredità di Marsilio Ficino: la «Teologale Sapienzia» e il divino Platone.” Filosofia Italiana 15, no. 1 (2020): 53–72. DOI: 10.4399/9788825534634

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “La funzione della memoria nell’estasi amorosa dei Dialoghi d’Amore. Una questione gnoseologica, fisiologica e profetica.” Lo Sguardo 28, no. 1 (2019): 57–76. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3721159

Interviews

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria. “Storie e modelli di idee e visioni. Intervista a Emanuela Scribano.” Lo Sguardo 33, no. 2 (2021): 247-257. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.6949472

Edited volumes

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria, Guidi, Simone, and Rodolfi, Anna (eds.). “Estasi e visione. Variazioni su un tema dal medioevo al contemporaneo” [special issue]. Lo Sguardo 21, no. 2 (2021 [2022]: 1-470. ISSN: 2036-6558

Comacchi, Maria Vittoria, and Pischedda, Luigi Emilio (eds.). “Dissenso Ed Eterodossia Nel Pensiero Ebraico” [monographic section]. Rivista di Storia della Filosofia 75, no. 3 (2020): 367–503. ISSN: 1972-5558

Further more

You can consult either my CV or my Academia page for a full overview of lectures, seminars and conference presentations I gave, the events I organized, interviews I made and received, and book reviews I wrote over the years.