Dining & Leisure

Limbo (Playdead, 2010)

May 26, 2021 By Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall

Limbo is a 2010 puzzle-platform video game developed by independent game developer Playdead.

In a presentation at the 2021 Middle Ages in Modern Games Twitter conference scholar Claudia Rossignoli presented a thread on the relationship between Limbo and the “intense emotional landscape” of Dante’s Inferno. Rossignoli commented, “The boy’s journey originally revisits classical katabatic narratives (also inspiring Dante), including in its final unsettling encounter (his sister?), which brings no closure and instead intensifies the initial loss, eliminating any remaining hope of finding a way out.”

Read the full thread here.

Learn more about the game here.

Watch the trailer for the game here.

See more from #MAMG21 here.

9 di Dante’s Inferno Vermouth

May 3, 2021 By Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall

“Inspired by Dante’s La Divina Comedia and his journey through Hell, this Vermouth di Torino Superiore defies the traditional boundaries of Italian Rosso Vermouths. Blended from equal parts Dolcetto Red and Cortese White Piedmont wines, we have developed this orginial recipe to deliver a modern an intriguing taste. You will be seduced by its intense ruby red colour and its fruity nose with hints of red berries, cherry and orange. Its bold personality will provide a rich and full bodied experience with well balanced herbal and citrus notes and a fresh and mildly bitter finish.” –Description from the 9 di Dante website

See also Suzanne Branciforte’s blogpost “Dante’s March” (March 30, 2021).

Dante 3-layer Anniversary Cake

April 3, 2021 By Professor Arielle Saiber

Contributed by Lorenzo Hess and Lucas di Cerbo (Bowdoin College, ’23)

“Dario Cecchini on Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’”

April 1, 2021 By Laura Chatellier, FSU '23

“For many visitors to Tuscany, their first taste of Dante’s verses came with their first taste of bistecca alla Fiorentina, crowded around the boisterous restaurant tables of local butcher Dario Cecchini. In Panzano in Chianti, surrounded by art and memory, Dario recites Dante by heart, towering over the modest shop display of carefully chosen cuts. There is a verse for every moment, from love to crisis, and the energy that comes with a celebration of life.” [. . .] –Marisa Garreffa, The Florentine, March 24, 2021.

Suzanne Branciforte, “Dante’s March”

March 30, 2021 By Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall

“[. . .] According to most scholars, Dante is referring to Vernaccia delle Cinque Terre from Liguria (sorry, Tuscans from San Gimignano!) Perhaps he became familiar with this wine during his stay in Lunigiana, in the first part of his exile from Florence.

“It is in that very same Lunigiana where Dante lived that Cantine Lvnae di Bosoni created a spectacular red wine in Dante’s honor. Verba Dantis, a blend of two native Ligurian grape varieties, Massaretta and Pollera Nera, is a full-bodied red wine reminding us of Dante’s intense and passionate personality.” –From “Dante’s March,” Suzanne Branciforte’s Italian Grapevine (March 30, 2021)

Read the full blogpost, which lists a number of wines commissioned to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the sommo poeta‘s death, here.

Contributed by Suzanne Branciforte

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