Matteo di Marco Palmieri (1406–1475) was a Florentine humanist and historian who is best known for his work Della vita civile ("On Civic Life"; printed 1528) which advocated civic humanism, and his influence in refining the Tuscan vernacular to the same level as Latin.[1] He was sent as Florentine ambassador to the court of Alfonso of Naples. Vespasiano da Bisticci included him among the illustrious men of his generation whose careers deserved an article in his Vite di uomini illustri del secolo XV.[2] vita.
Palmieri was born to a middle-class family who held prominent positions in the city. He was educated in Florence and ran a profitable apothecary shop; like his father he pursued a career in civil service, becoming a well known and respected public official between 1432 and 1475 holding many posts and titles.[1]
At the end of his life, he commissioned from the florentine painter Francesco Botticini(1446 – 1498) a monumental Assumption of the Virgin[3] for the church of the Benedictine nunnery of San Pier Maggiore in Florence, where the Palmieri had their chapel; in the painting are the kneeling donor portraits of Matteo and his wife Niccolosa de' Serragli.[4]
from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matteo_Palmieri acc. 09/07/14