Memnling, ritratto di folco di portinari

Palazzo dei priori di volterra, interno, stemma portinari

Folco Portinari (died 31 December 1289) was an Italian banker and several times the

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

. He was the father of

Beatrice Portinari Beatrice "Bice" di Folco Portinari (; 1265 – 8 or 19 June 1290) was an Italian woman who has been commonly identified as the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri's '' Vita Nuova'', and is also identified with the Beatrice who acts as ...

, the woman largely identified as the character loved by

Dante Alighieri Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

and mentioned in his works. Portinari was born at Portico di Romagna, near

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a '' comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Vi ...

. He donated a large part of his assets to found the Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova in Florence in 1288. His residence in Florence was the future Palazzo Portinari Salviati. He was buried in the nearby church of

Santa Margherita de' Cerchi The Chiesa di Santa Margherita de' Cerchi is a 13th-century, Roman Catholic church dedicated to Margaret the Virgin in the centre of Florence, region of Tuscany, Italy. It is among the oldest churches in Florence. History It is first recorded in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portinari, Folco 13th-century births 1289 deaths People from Portico e San Benedetto Italian bankers 13th-century Italian businesspeople