The Florentine Platonic Academy[1]​ was a humanist institution founded in 1462 by the patron Cosimo de' Medici. At first it was nothing more than a group of friends to discuss literary topics, and did not transcend the group of scholars linked to the Medici family. However, it was imitated in other cities in Italy and later in all the nations of Europe.

Ferrater Mora explains, in his Diccionario de Filosofía, Editorial Suramericana, Fifth edition 1964, that the arrival of the Byzantine philosopher Georgios Gemistos Plethon at the Florentine court of Cosimo de' Medici, and the teachings he gave there on Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy induced Cosimo to found the so-called Florentine Academy or Platonic Academy of Florence in 1459. The Academy It was also protected by Lorenzo de' Medici.

Its main members were, in addition to Plethon, Cardinal Bessarion, Marsilio Ficino and then Pico della Mirrla. The common trend was, above all, the study of Plato.

Other common features of this Academy were:

It should be noted, moreover, that Platonism and Neoplatonism influenced many other currents of the Renaissance, including some that seemed opposed to Plato; This is the case of the renewals of Stoicism and Epicureanism.

The following list includes the most important members of the Academy, all great intellectuals and multifaceted in the various arts and crafts.