RAZZI, SILVANO. - Camaldolese humanist and hagiographer, brother of Serafino, b. at Marradi di Mugello in 1527, d. at Firenze on 15 Oct. 1611. A devoted disciple of the poet and historian Benedetto Varchi, he wrote tragedies that won him acclaim. Having become a Camaldolese monk at S. Maria degli Angeli in Firenze, he devoted himself assiduously to sacred studies.
He was general visitor, abbot of S. Maria in Gradi at Arezzo, and first abbot (a title replacing the ancient one of prior) of S. Maria degli Angeli in Firenze. During his administration, the cenobium was enriched with works of art and regained renown in the field of studies; a rumour circulated that, in order to oblige his friends, R. had deprived the monastery of many fifteenth-century illuminated 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ovvero meditazioni per ciascun giorno di Quaresima (1607); other works of asceticism and hagiography remained unpublished and perhaps were lost.