Martini, Antonio
Martini, Antonio
Archbishop of Florence, Biblical scholar; b. at Prato in Tuscany, 20 April, 1720; d. at Florence, 31 December 1809. Having received holy Orders, he was appointed director of the Superga College at Turin. Cardinal delle Lanze, knowing that Benedict XIV, then pope, desired a good version of the Bible in contemporary Tuscan, urged Martini to undertake the work. The latter began a translation of the New Testament from the original Greek, but soon found his labour, in conjunction with his duties in the Superga, beyond his physical strength. He accordingly resigned the directorship and accepted from the King Charles Emmanuel of Sardinia a state councillorship together with a pension. In spite of some discouragement upon the decease of Benedict XIV, Martini persevered, completing the publication of the New Testament in 1771. In his work upon the Hebrew text of the Old Testament, which followed, he was assisted by the rabbi Terni, a Jewish scholar. The whole work was approved, and Martini personally commended, by Pius VI, who made him archbishop of Florence in 1781. As archbishop he succeeded in partly foiling an attempt to publish a garbled edition of his work, and a third authorized edition issued from Archiepiscopal Press of Florence in 1782-92 (see also VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE).
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BEGAGLI, Biografia degli uomini illustri (Venice 1840); MINOCCHI in VIGOUROUX,Dict. de la Bible s.v. Italiennes (Versions) de la Bible.
E. MACPHERSON Transcribed by C.A. Montgomery
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IXCopyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, CensorImprimatur. +John M. Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Martini, Antonio
an Italian prelate, was born at Prato in 1720. Having chosen an ecclesiastical career, and possessing a good knowledge of the ancient languages, he occupied his time in translating the sacred writings into Italian. Pius VI, informed of his merits, appointed him bishop of Bobio (1778); afterwards the grand duke of Tuscany called him to the archiepiscopacy of Florence (1781). Martini was greatly opposed to all new ideas, and decidedly manifested his opinion in haughtily condemning the doctrines of Ricci in the synod.