List of Italian polymaths

A "Renaissance Man/Woman" or "Polymath" is not just a man/woman of genius, but a person who is well educated and accomplished in a wide variety of subject areas or fields of expertise.
This is a list of notable Italian polymaths, presented in chronological order by date of birth.
* Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor (1194 - 1250), was a polymath, with interests in sculpture, architecture, poetry, mathematics, and science.
* Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321), was a polymath: poet, classicist, and political philosopher.
* Francesco Landini (c. 1325 or 1335 - 1397), was a polymath: political commentator, philosopher, astrologer, virtuoso organist, and instrument maker.
* Filippo Brunelleschi (1377 - 1446), was a true Renaissance Man: architect, sculptor, goldsmith, and mathematician.
* Mariano di Jacopo (1382 - c. 1453), also called Marianus Taccola, or Archimedes of Siena, was a polymath, administrator, artist, and engineer of the early Renaissance.
* Leon Battista Alberti (1404 - 1472), was a prolific polymath: artist, architect, poet, and mathematician.
* Giovanni Giocondo (c. 1433 - 1515), was a true polymath, with interests in engineering, hydraulics, archaeology and the classical inheritance and town planning.
* Marsilio Ficino (1433 - 1499), was a true Renaissance man: public figure, teacher, philosopher, theologian, translator, astrologer, medicus, and magus.
* Andrea del Verrocchio (c. 1435 - 1488), was a polymath: musician, engineer, goldsmith, sculptor, painter, and draughtsman.
* Francesco di Giorgio (1439 - 1502), was a polymath of remarkable versatility, as evidenced by his works on painting, sculpture, architecture, and design. Interested in many things including music, art and literature, he was a hedonist as well as an intellectual.
* Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519), has been called "the universal genius par excellence." He was also a polymath with infinite capabilities.
* Poliziano (1454 - 1494), was a humanist polymath. He was equally fluent in Greek, Italian, and Latin and was equally talented in poetry, philosophy and philology.
* Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (1463 - 1494), was a Renaissance polymath. He was a nobleman, scholar, and writer on philosophy and theology.
* Pietro Bembo (1470 - 1547), was a humanist polymath: poet, historian, literary scholar, and theologian.
* Isabella d'Este (1474 - 1539), was a fashion leader, art patron, diplomat writer, and a sharp politician. She was a true Renaissance woman.
* Alvise Cornaro (c. 1475 - 1566), was a polymath based in Padua.
* Michelangelo (1475 - 1564), was an artist and polymath whose influence over Western art has been unparalleled.
* Girolamo Fracastoro (1478 - 1553), was a Renaissance man. He was a physician, poet, and scholar in mathematics, botany, geology, astronomy, and philosophy.
* Paolo Giovio (1483 - 1552), was a humanist polymath. He was famous mainly for his historical works and collection of portraits.
* Julius Caesar Scaliger (1484 - 1558), was a scholar and polymath noted for his scientific and philosophical writings.
* Gerolamo Cardano (1501 - 1576), was a Renaissance polymath. He was a man of many talents, active in a dozen arts and sciences.
* Cosimo Bartoli (1503 - 1572), was a famous polymath or Renaissance man: diplomat, mathematician, philologist, and humanist.
* Jacopo Strada (1507 - 1588), was a true Renaissance polymath: painter, architect, goldsmith, inventor, numismatist, linguist, and art collector.
* Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574), was a cultural polymath who became famous for his biographies of Italian artists.
* Daniele Barbaro (1513 - 1570), a polymath, was a historian, a humanist, and a diplomat.
* Catherine de' Medici (1519 - 1589), Queen, consort of Henry II of France. She was an example of the true Renaissance woman. He studied mathematics, humanities, law, and medicine, and took a medical degree.
* Bernardo Buontalenti (c. 1531 - 1608), was a gifted polymath in late Renaissance: architect, engineer, designer, painter, and inventor.
* Giovanni de' Bardi (1534 - 1612), was a polymath or scholar in many subjects.
* Giambattista della Porta (c. 1535 - 1615), was a scholar, polymath, and child prodigy.
* Tarquinia Molza (1542 - 1617), a polymath, was a poet, a mathematician, an astronomer, and a musician.
* Giordano Bruno (1548 - 1600), was a polymath: philosopher, poet, playwright, and mnemonist.
* Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 1550 - 1602), was a polymath at the Tuscan court. He was a composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer, and dancer. (c. 1551 - 1617), was much more than just a philosopher; he was a historian, an outstanding inventor, a polymath of Croatian descent.
* Paolo Sarpi (August, 1552 - 1623), has been called "the loftiest intellect that Venice ever produced." He was an astonishing polymath with a wide range of interests.
* Matteo Ricci (October, 1552 - 1610), was a Jesuit polymath. He was well versed in all things, mathematics and literature, philosophy and poetry, mechanics and astronomy.
* Bernardino Baldi (1553 - 1617), a celebrated polymath, is known to have written a treatise on sun dials and timekeeping.
* Galileo Galilei (1564 - 1642), was a scientist and polymath, has been called the founder of modern experimental science.
* Tommaso Campanella (1568 - 1639), was an exceptional polymath, whose interests ranged over all the fields of human knowledge.
* Francesco Stelluti (1577 - 1652), was a polymath: mathematician, astronomer, writer, and microscopist.
* Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598 - 1680), was more than the greatest sculptor of the Baroque period, he was a brilliant polymath.
* Giovanni Alfonso Borelli (1608 - 1679), was a polymath. He is variously described as a mathematician, physicist, and physiologist.
* Martino Martini (1614 - 1661), was a polymath and Jesuit missionary to China.
* Salvator Rosa (1615 - 1673), though he painted during the Baroque era in Italy, Rosa was something of a Renaissance man. A supporter of music and the arts.
* Tito Livio Burattini (1617 - 1681), was a brilliant polymath. In his book Misura Universale, published in 1675, first suggested the name meter as the name for a unit of length.
* Guarino Guarini (1624 - 1683), a polymath, was an architect, a mathematician, a philosopher, and an astronomer.
* Antonio Magliabechi (1633 - 1714), was a polymath, scholar, linguist, and bibliophile.
* Elena Cornaro Piscopia (1646 - 1684), was a polymath with wide scholarly interests.
* Vincenzo Coronelli (1650 - 1718), was a polymath, geographer, publisher and encyclopedist, author of numerous maps, atlases, and globes.
* Agostino Steffani (1654 - 1728), was a diplomat and bishop. He was also a polymath of great versatility.
* Luigi Ferdinando Marsigli (1658 - 1730), a polymath, was a scientist, a geologist, a botanist, and a man of war.
* Francesco Bianchini (1662 - 1729), was a polymath, with interests in mathematics, physics, astronomy, history, and theology.
* Giacinto Gimma (March, 1668 - 1735), was a lawyer and polymath from Bari.
* Giambattista Vico (June, 1668 - 1744), like other geniuses, he was also a polymath accustomed to wearing many masks: historian, rhetorician, jurist, and finally philologist.
* Ludovico Antonio Muratori (1672 - 1750), was a pastor and polymath, the leading figure in the early Italian Enlightenment.
* Francesco Scipione Maffei (1675 - 1755), was a true polymath: scholar, writer, poet, dramatist, historian, art critic, antiquarian and journalist.
* Giovanni Poleni (c. 1683 - 1761), a polymath, was a physicist, a mathematician, an antiquarian, and an expert in hydraulic engineering.
* Giovanni Gaetano Bottari (1689 - 1775), was a famous lexicographer and polymath of the 18th century.
* Francesco Benaglio (1708 - 1759), was a polymath from Treviso.
* Raimondo di Sangro (1710 - 1771), was a true polymath, an ardent disciple of the sciences, practitioner of alchemy, a mystic, inventor and polyglot.
* Roger Joseph Boscovich () (May, 1711 - 1787), in addition to being a philosopher, was a scientist and engineer, mathematician and poet, priest and diplomat of Croatian descent.
* Laura Bassi (November, 1711 - 1778), was an influential scientist and polymath.
* Francesco Algarotti (1712 - 1764), a polymath, was a philosopher, a poet, an essayist, and an art critic.
* Giacomo Casanova (1725 - 1798), remembered today primarily for his sex life, he was considered in his time to be a great polymath.
* Giovanni Battista Venturi (1746 - 1822), was a renowned polymath who had worked in all sorts of sciences, including physics.
* Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749 - 1838), was a polymath, librettist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his collaboration with Mozart.
* Muzio Clementi (1752 - 1832), was an exceptional polymath: composer, virtuosic pianist, conductor, instrument manufacturer, and publisher.
* Carlo Cattaneo (1801 - 1869), was not just a historian but also a polymath: politician, philosopher, writer, and publicist.
* Vilfredo Pareto (1848 - 1923), was a sociologist, economist and polymath, known chiefly for his theories on political behavior.
* Ferruccio Busoni (1866 - 1924), a polymath, was a composer, a pianist, an editor, a writer, and a conductor.
* Antonio Gramsci (1891 - 1937), a polymath, was a writer, a politician, a political theorist, a philosopher, a sociologist, and a linguist.
* Julius Evola (1898 - 1974), was a polymath: philosopher, esotericist, author, artist, poet, political activist, and soldier.
* Bruno Munari (1907 - 1998), was a polymath, often a graphic designer, sculptor, painter, and more.
* Arnaldo Momigliano (1908 - 1987), was a historian born in Piedmont. A polymath, he published historiography, classical studies and biographies.
* Fosco Maraini (1912 - 2004), was a true polymath: photographer, mountaineer, Japan scholar, anthropologist, ethnologist, writer, and professor.
* Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922 - 1975), was a true polymath: filmmaker, poet, novelist, playwright, literary critic, political columnist, and painter.
* Sylvano Bussotti (born 1931), is a polymath with an enormous range of interests.
* Umberto Eco (born 1932), is a professor of semiotics, novelist, and an expert on literature, medieval philosophy and pop culture.
* Giuseppe Sinopoli (1946 - 2001), a polymath, was a composer, a conductor, a surgeon, and a doctor of criminal anthropology.
* Alessandro Baricco (born 1958), is a cultural polymath. One of the leading exponents of the contemporary Italian fiction.

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