(Allegorical Painting of Dante on Mount Purgatorio by Bronzino (1530)
Dante Alighieri was born in Florence – in the 13th century – although we have no precise record of Dante’s birthday, nor even the year. Scholars think he was born in about 1265, perhaps May-June time. There is a reference in ‘The Divine Comedy’ to him possibly being born under the sign of Gemini: “As I revolved with the eternal twins, I saw revealed, from hills to river outlets, the threshing-floor that makes us so ferocious” (XXII 151–154). In 1265, the sun was in Gemini between approximately May 11 and June 11. So perhaps this is an indication to us of Dante’s date of birth.
Dante is famous for his epic poem ‘The Divine Comedy’ written over a ten year period (1310-1320) where he describes, in great detail, a journey through the after life. The poem is very long, a weighty 14,233 lines. It is divided into three chapters or sections, each section consisting of 33 cantos or verses. Dante wrote in Italian and used a familiar style where he would draw on his own personal life experiences and address the reader directly. This was remarkably original and modern in comparison to the mostly religious manuscripts of the time.
‘La Comedia‘ was divided into three sections; Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso. It recounts Dante’s personal journey through Hell and Purgatory and finally into Paradise. Virgil, the Roman poet is his guide through Hell and Purgatory, whilst Beatrice leads him through Paradise.
(Dante and Beatrice – painting by Henry Holiday (1880s) Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool)
Beatrice was a beautiful young woman who Dante loved and adored from afar throughout his life. She died tragically young in 1290. Like any good epic ‘La Comedia’ involves justice, romance, good and evil and most importantly, the terrible fate that awaits sinners when they arrive in the underworld. Dante’s depictions of Hell, the ‘Inferno’ have influenced writers, film-makers and story tellers from that day to this. It’s hard to get rivers of blood and fire out of your mind once you’ve read about Dante’s final resting place for murderers and thugs.
Dante’s poem became known as ‘The Divine Comedy’ or ‘La Commedia Divina‘ in Italian. Boccaccio, a great fan of Dante added the ‘divine’ epithet to the title to explain the subject matter as a journey through the celestial world to the afterlife.
The magnificent painting by Michelino (below) is on the West Wall of Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria dei Fiori) it shows Dante about to enter the underworld. The Cathedral of Florence is at his left hand. The entry to the underworld, Inferno is to his right. Purgatory and Paradise are shown as a mountain in the background. This painting was created at least 130 years after Dante’s death and yet it portrays beautifully the journey that Dante was about to embark upon.
(Dante by Domenico di Michelino – the painting is on the West Wall of Duomo di Firenze, Santa Maria dei Fiori, Florence – 1465)
Dante wrote The Divine Comedy around 1310-1320. During this period he was exiled from his home town of Florence and spent his days wandering through Northern Italy. Dante’s use of the Italian language placed him at the forefront of ‘Italian literature’ which featured the three so called ‘corone‘ crowns belonging to the pens of Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch.
(educated-traveller.com)
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