Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
(Photo by Kavi Montanaro, October 21, 2008)
Banner on Via dei Servi in Florence, Italy. Students, faculty, and parents protesting funding cuts in education and privatization of the school and university systems.
Virgil is saying to Dante, “But no, Dante!… Even Inferno is now privatized… A single fiorino [medieval unit of currency] is no longer enough…”
(Photo by Kavi Montanaro, 2008)
Cambridge, MA with CT plates
(Photo by Dien Ho, 2008)
“‘It’s an inferno in here,’ yelled a middle-aged woman as she plunged into a foul-smelling hot spring in central Italy. She wasn’t the first to compare these scorching sulfur baths to Hell. In Canto XIV of Inferno, Dante wanders past a pool oozing with boiling red water and is reminded of these thermal spas about an hour north of Rome ‘whose waters are shared with prostitutes.’ . . .
That may explain why spas like Bulicame seem to hold more appeal for the locals. In addition to being free, its commercial-free atmosphere and ancient Roman ruins infuse the bath with history. Besides, Dante’s journey through Inferno and Bulicame eventually led him to Paradiso.” […] –David Farley, The New York Times, August 26, 2007
“By Thursday, nearly 30 tractor-trailers had been loaded with classic Astroland rides and driven out. There was no sign of the Scrambler, the Tilt-a-Whirl or the Mini Tea Cup. Dante’s Inferno, a haunted house, stood empty and ravaged, looking more haunted than ever. The Pirate Ship was moored atop a flatbed truck, awaiting storage.” [. . .] –David W. Dunlap and Ann Farmer, The New York Times, January 9, 2009
Photo by Marta Lwin, 2004
