FLAMINIO, MARCO ANTONIO. — Humanist, born at Serravalle (now Vittorio Veneto) in 1498 to the humanist Giannantonio. Esteemed by Leo X, Sadoleto, Sannazzaro, Castiglione, and the most celebrated men of his time, he passed, admired, through the courts of Rome, Urbino, Mantua, Naples, Venice, Genoa, and Milan. As a secretary, he served the papal protonotary Stefano Sauli, the datary Matteo Girberti, who gave him an estate on Lake Garda, and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese. For reasons of health, in 1538 he went to Naples and, during the two years he remained there, came, along with others, under the influence of Juan Valdés, especially with regard to doctrines concerning grace and free will and the merit of good works.
After leaving Naples, he joined the circle that gathered at Viterbo around Cardinal Pole and came into contact with Vittoria Colonna, Alvise Priuli, and Cardinals G. Morone, Gaspare Centarini, and Girolamo Seripando. He followed Pole to the Council of Trent, but did not wish to assume the office of secretary. He died in Rome on 18 February 1550, comforted by Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa, within the Church. He was admired for his gentleness and Christian piety and for the elegance of his writings, particularly his Carmina, which were printed several times in collections together with those of the major poets of his age. The most readily available editions are those of Bergamo (1752) and Prato (1831). Some of these poems were also translated into Italian by various authors. He also wrote:
Paraphrasis in duodecimum librum Aristotelis de prima philosophia (Venice 1536, Paris 1547); In librum Psalmorum brevis explanatio atque paraphrases poeticus (Venice 1546; two years later a prose commentary appeared in Bologna); De rebus divinis (Paris 1551); Lettere, edited by V. Dorico (Rome 1554), and by D. Aranagi (Venice 1560 and 1576). All these works were repeatedly printed.