Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, Conte, 1463-94, Italian philosopher and humanist. To many in the age of the Renaissance, Pico was the ideal man, whose physical beauty reflected his inner harmony. He appears in Il Cortegiano of Baldassare Castiglione. In 1484 he went to Florence where he soon became one of the most active members of Lorenzo de'Medici's Platonic Academy and the chief exponent of Italian Neoplatonism. His studies in Hebrew led to the composition of his celebrated 900 theses on a reconciliation of Christianity with Platonic philosophy. In 1487 he was forced to recant 13 propositions, and his clash with Pope Innocent VIII led to his arrest (1488) at Lyons. Although attacked by the church, Pico's theses were an important symbol of the Renaissance blending of Christian and Greek ideas. Lorenzo invited him back to Florence, where he remained until his death, becoming a follower of Girolamo Savonarola. In his Oration on the Dignity of Man (c.1487) he proclaimed that individuals face no limits to their development except those that are self-imposed. His other works include Heptaplus, a mystical account of the creation; De ante et uno; and an unfinished attack on astrology. Sir Thomas More's Life of John Picus, Earl of Mirandula is a translation of the biography by Pico's nephew, Giovanni Francesco (1890).

Pico Rivera, city (1990 pop. 59,177), Los Angeles co., SW Calif., SE of Los Angeles on the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers; inc. 1958 with the union of Pico and Rivera into one community. Among the city's many manufactures are furniture, machinery, exercise equipment, metal doors, and aircraft.

Pico [Port.,=peak], island (1991 pop. 15,129), 167 sq mi (433 sq km), Horta dist., in the N Atlantic, one of the central Azores. It takes its name from the volcanic mountain, Pico Alto [high peak], which rises to 7,711 ft (2,350 m).

Peñalara, Pico de: see Guadarrama, Sierra de.

Mirandola, Giovanni Pico della: see Pico della Mirandola, Giovanni, Conte.

Aneto, Pico de, Fr. Pic de Néthou or Pic d'Anethou, peak, 11,168 ft (3,404 m) high, NE Spain, in the Maladetta group near the French border. It is the highest peak of the Pyrenees.

(born Feb. 24, 1463, Mirandola, duchy of Ferrara—died Nov. 17, 1494, Florence) Italian scholar, philosopher, and humanist. He settled in Florence in 1484 as a protégé of Lorenzo de' Medici and Marsilio Ficino. In 1486 he posted in Rome a list of 900 theses on logic, mathematics, physics, and other subjects that he proposed to defend against any opponent. His Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486), which accompanied the posting, epitomizes Renaissance humanism. Accused of heresy by the pope, he was later cleared, and he was later reconverted to orthodoxy by Girolamo Savonarola. Pico was the first Christian scholar to use Kabbalistic doctrine (see Kabbala) in support of Christian theology. His other works include Heptaplus (a seven-point exposition of the Book of Genesis) and a synoptic treatment of Plato and Aristotle, of which Of Being and Unity is a portion. He died at age 31.

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