Pietro Pomponazzi (1462-1525), Italian philosopher. Pomponazzi was born and educated at Mantua. He then went to Padua to study medicine and in 1488 was appointed professor of philosophy. When the schools at Padua were closed in 1509 he moved first to Ferrara then finally to Bologna. It was here he felt free to study philosophy and theology and in 1516 produced De immortalitate animae, on the immortality of the soul. This provoked controversy - his book was burned at Venice and Pomponazzi ran the risk of attack. Pomponazzi declared his faith in the Catholic Church and escaped prosecution. By this it was established that religion and philosophy, while seemingly opposites, could coexist in the mind of the same person. This woodcut comes from Giovio's Elogia vivorum litris illustrium, published at Basel in 1577.