Ariston, sculptor and painter · Lexicon

From the book

Marsilio Ficino’s Platonic Theology, Volume II

Marsilio Ficino · Diotimos Editions · 2026

Orientation

At a Glance

The wordThe named father and son illustrate generation of an individual.
In the Platonic TheologyAriston, Plato’s father in Ficino’s example, is this human being in this matter.
In this editionThe source uses ratio beside idea at V.13.16 in the sense of intelligible plan.
A place to readAriston/Plato and sculptor/stone supply two distinct steps in the causal proof.

Meaning

The named father and son illustrate generation of an individual. Sculptor, stone and statue illustrate material potency actualized by craft. Pictor and exemplar introduce the painter and the mental pattern used to produce a picture. These are three different causal examples.

Use in the book

Ariston, Plato’s father in Ficino’s example, is this human being in this matter. He therefore generates Plato as another determinate human rather than generating absolute humanity. The example supports the participation argument: a limited possessor cannot produce the unrestricted nature upon which he depends. It does not say that the father contributes nothing to generation.

The sculptor draws an actual statue from stone prepared to receive it. A human agent similarly generates from seed with a relevant power. Preparedness can vary, and the examples of air and water becoming fire compare easier and harder transitions from potency to act. This introduces the claim that greater distance requires greater power, followed by the alleged infinite distance of creation from nothing.

The painter answers a different difficulty. If both soul and angel are created immediately by God, why are they unequal? One painter can make both a human figure and a horse while employing unequal exemplars. Ficino judges the human figure more beautiful because of the superior pattern in the painter’s mind. The comparison explains why sameness of efficient source need not entail sameness of resulting perfection. It does not establish the aesthetic hierarchy as a universal modern judgment.

Together the examples separate material readiness, efficient source, exemplary determination and individual production. Collapsing them into a generic craftsman image would lose the work each does.

Places to read

V.13.5Ariston/Plato and sculptor/stone supply two distinct steps in the causal proof.
V.13.6The scale of finite making leads to the claimed infinite distance of creation.
V.13.16A painter’s unequal exemplars answer the equality objection concerning soul and angel.

Translation in this edition

The source uses ratio beside idea at V.13.16 in the sense of intelligible plan. The proper names in the supplied normalized Latin are retained as edition evidence; this article relies on Ficino’s usage rather than claiming a new biographical investigation.

Ariston

Ariston. Printed forms: Ariston.

Plato's father in the text's individual-generation example. A determinate human begets another human in matter rather than producing absolute humanity. References: V.13.5. See Ariston, sculptor and painter.

equus / homo

equus / homo. Printed forms: equi; equum; equus; hominem; hominibus; hominis; homo.

Horse and human, distinguishable kinds or depicted figures. The bronze and painter examples use their formal difference; the latter includes Ficino's aesthetic ranking of the exemplars. References: V.8.1, V.13.3, V.13.16. See Ariston, sculptor and painter.

exemplar

exemplar. Printed forms: exemplar; exemplares; exemplaria; motionum corporalium exemplaria.

An exemplary pattern, whether in the painter's mind or in the account of divine Ideas. The image explains determination by a pattern without making the pattern a bodily ingredient. References: V.13.16, V.13.18. See Ariston, sculptor and painter.

A higher pattern or counterpart of bodily motion. Psychic generation, increase and movement are analogical activities, not literal bodily processes within soul. References: VI.12.19, VI.12.20. See Exemplars of bodily motion in soul.

pictor / pictura

pictor / pictura. Printed forms: picti; pictor; pictore; picturam.

Painter, painting and painted, the exemplification of unequal products from one agent. A human figure and horse can differ because the painter uses different exemplars; immediate divine source does not equalize angel and soul. References: V.13.16. See Ariston, sculptor and painter.

sculptor / statua / lapis

sculptor / statua / lapis. Printed forms: lapide; Sculptor; statuam.

A sculptor, statue and stone, illustrating actualization of a prepared material capacity. The stone is already suited to a statue in potency; craft therefore differs from creation with no substrate. References: V.13.5. See Ariston, sculptor and painter.

Ariston (authorities and interlocutors)

Ariston. The father of Plato serves as an example of a determinate human being generating another determinate human being in matter. He does not produce absolute humanity or being itself; the example helps distinguish natural generation from creation. References: V.13.5. See Ariston, sculptor and painter.