Aristotle’s original lectures (composed roughly between 335–322 BCE) were not initially a single “book.” The title Metaphysics (μeτὰ τὰ φυσικά, “after the physics”) was likely coined by Andronicus of Rhodes around 60 BCE when he organized the Aristotelian corpus.
Aristotle. Metaphysics. Edited by W. D. Ross. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1924.
This remains the definitive Greek critical edition used by scholars today. Oxford University Press Catalog
It was first translated into Syriac by Christian scholars and subsequently into Arabic in Baghdad. These versions often included the influential commentaries of Averroes (Ibn Rushd).
Averroes. Tafsīr Mā Ba‘d al-Tabī‘at [Long Commentary on the Metaphysics]. Edited by Maurice Bouyges. Beirut: Dar el-Machreq, 1938–1952.
This Arabic version preserved the text during the European Early Middle Ages. Digital Library of Late Antique Philosophy
The text returned to Europe through two primary routes: the “Arabist” route (from Arabic via Spain) and the “Hellenist” route (directly from Greek via Byzantium). The most crucial translation was by William of Moerbeke, whose literal “word-for-word” style provided the basis for Thomas Aquinas’s commentaries.
Aristoteles. Metaphysica: Libri I-XIV. Recensio et Translatio Guillelmi de Moerbeke. Edited by Gudrun Vuillemin-Diem. Leiden: Brill, 1995.
Part of the Aristoteles Latinus project, documenting the medieval Latin tradition. Aristoteles Latinus Database
During the Renaissance, scholars sought to bypass “clunky” Medieval Latin for more “elegant” Humanist Latin, returning to original Greek manuscripts discovered in the fall of Constantinople.
Bessarion, Cardinal. Metaphysicorum Aristotelis Libri XIV. Paris: Henri Estienne, 1515.
A landmark Humanist translation that sought to reconcile Aristotelian thought with Platonism. Gallica Digital Library – Bibliothèque nationale de France
Aristotle. The Complete Works of Aristotle: The Revised Oxford Translation. Edited by Jonathan Barnes. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984.
This is the standard English reference for the Metaphysics (translated by W.D. Ross). Princeton University Press
Aristotle. Metaphysics. Translated by C. D. C. Reeve. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2016.
Scholarly Articles on Aristotelian Influence in the 15th Century
Hankins, James. “The Scholastic Aristotle in the Renaissance.” In The Cambridge Companion to Renaissance Philosophy, edited by James Hankins, 30–55. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.
Hankins explores how Aristotle remained the bedrock of university education even as Humanism rose, influencing the way religious orders visualized their saints. Cambridge University Press
Salisbury, Joyce E. “The Scholastic Augustine.” The Journal of Religious History 15, no. 4 (1989): 451–466.
This article specifically examines the 13th- to 15th-century effort to “Aristotelianize” Augustine, aligning his Neoplatonic visions with the rigorous logic found in the Metaphysics.
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Gozzoli, Benozzo. Saint Augustine Leaving Rome for Milan. 1464–1465. Fresco, 220 x 230 cm. Sant’Agostino, San Gimignano.
This work is part of a larger cycle of seventeen scenes depicting the Life of Saint Augustine located in the choir of the church of Sant’Agostino in San Gimignano, Italy.
Official Site: Municipality of San Gimignano – Church of Sant’Agostino
Provenance: Commissioned by Fra Domenico Strambi, an Augustinian friar and scholar, for the choir of the church of Sant’Agostino. It has remained in situ since its completion in the mid-fifteenth century.
Ahl, Diane Cole. “Benozzo Gozzoli’s Frescoes of the Life of Saint Augustine in San Gimignano: Their Meaning and Context.” Artibus et Historiae 7, no. 13 (1986): 35–53.
Ahl provides an extensive analysis of how the cycle reflects the theological and intellectual priorities of the Augustinian Order during the Renaissance. Access via JSTOR
Cole, Bruce. “The Interior Decoration of Sant’Agostino.” In Italian Art, 1250–1550: The Relation of Renaissance Art to Life and Society, 154–162. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Cole examines the stylistic transition of Gozzoli from his work in the Medici Palace to this more narrative, ecclesiastical cycle.
Padoa Rizzo, Anna. Benozzo Gozzoli in Toscana. Florence: Octavo, Franco Cantini Editore, 1997.
Rizzo is widely considered the preeminent modern scholar on Gozzoli. This text details the restoration history and the specific use of architectural space within the Milan departure scene.
Relationship between the fresco and the text takes us on a long journey of intellectual influence.
the era in which Gozzoli painted this cycle (the mid-1460s) was one where Aristotelian logic and metaphysics had been fully integrated into Christian theology
The most direct link is the figure of the patron, Fra Domenico Strambi. Strambi was a Paris-educated theologian who sought to present Augustine not just as a mystic, but as a rigorous “Doctor of the Church” whose intellectual journey mirrored the scholarly standards of the Renaissance.
Aristotle as the “Pre-Christian” Logic: In the 15th century, Aristotle’s Metaphysics—specifically his theories on “First Philosophy,” substance, and the “Unmoved Mover”—provided the logical framework for the Scholasticism that defined the education of friars like Strambi.
The “Conversion of the Intellect”: This specific scene (Saint Augustine Leaving Rome for Milan) depicts the transition from Augustine’s earlier Manichaean beliefs toward the Neo-Platonic and Aristotelian synthesis he would encounter in Milan under Saint Ambrose.
These works explore how Renaissance frescoes served as “visual texts” for the philosophical and metaphysical debates of the time.
Bolland, Andrea. “Art and Humanism in the Service of the Order: The Augustine Cycle in San Gimignano.” Renaissance Quarterly 51, no. 2 (1998): 451–482.
Bolland discusses how the cycle emphasizes Augustine’s academic and rhetorical career, framing his life as a pursuit of the “Highest Truth,” a concept central to Aristotelian metaphysics. Access via JSTOR
Courtenay, William J. “The Institutionalization of Aristotelianism.” In Aristotle’s Animals in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, edited by Carlos Steel, 3–22. Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1999.
While broader in scope, this article explains the necessity of Aristotelian study for the religious orders that commissioned these fresco cycles. Access via Leuven University Press
Verdon, Timothy. “The Relationship between Art and Theology in the Italian Renaissance.” In The Religious Art of the Italian Renaissance, 22–45. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Verdon analyzes how the spatial clarity and architectural “order” in Gozzoli’s work reflect the Aristotelian preference for rational, observable structure.
