RAZZI, SILVANO. - Camaldolese humanist and hagiographer, brother of Serafino, b. at Marradi di Mugello in 1527, d. at Florence on 15 Oct. 1611. A devoted disciple of the poet and historian Benedetto Varchi, he wrote tragedies, which earned him praise. Having become a Camaldolese monk at S. Maria degli Angeli in Florence, he applied himself assiduously to sacred studies.
He was visitor general, abbot of S. Maria in Gradi at Arezzo and first abbot (a title that succeeded the ancient one of prior) of S. Maria degli Angeli in Florence. During his governance, the monastery was enriched with works of art and regained fame in the field of studies; a rumor circulated that, to please his friends, R. had defrauded the monastery of many illuminated fifteenth-century codices.
He wrote: Raccolta di orazioni a Cristo e alla beatissima Madre Maria (1556); I miracoli della gloriosa Vergine Maria (1599); Corona del Signore in forma di orazioni (1592); Vite dei santi e beati dell'Ordine di Camaldoli (1600); Quadragesimale ovvero meditazioni per ciascun giorno di Quaresima (1607); other works of asceticism and hagiography remained unpublished and perhaps were lost.
Bibliography2 works
Anselmo Giabbani