700th anniversary

L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle Exhibit at the CityLife Park in Milan

April 12, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“In collaborazione con Kooness.com e Arte Generali, ‘L’amor che move il sole e l’altre stelle’ è la grande mostra pubblica disseminata nel Parco di CityLife. Organizzata nell’ambito delle celebrazioni dantesche, gli artisti presenti si sono confrontati con i temi di esilito, invenzione e linguaggio.

“A fare da cappello introduttivo alla mostra un elemento surreale: una pensilina (opera di Michela Lucenti, Fermata Tre Colori) installata all’interno del parco, sul bordo di un sentiero interno, che segna la linea 33 in “Piazza Tre Colori”: in realtà nessun autobus passerà mai da quella fermata, che assolve invece alla funzione di mappa in cui trovare i riferimenti alle opere disseminate nel verde di CityLife. Si tratta di lavori accomunati dalle stesse tematiche ma sviluppati attraverso l’impiego dei più disparati materiali, tecniche e esiti creativi: dall’opera sonora di Roberto Cacciapaglia, Cammino stellare, a quella interattiva di Matteo Vettorello, Sintonizzatore di decongestione ambientale, dalla fotografia Beatrice e il Poeta di Giovanni Gastel al noto Terzo Paradiso di Michelangelo Pistoletto. Il riflesso aureo è al centro delle opere di Alice Ronchi, con SOLE/SUN e quella di Marco Nereo Rotelli, Il Sole e le altre “Stelle”; lo sguardo è il filo conduttore dell’opera di Alice Padovani (Lo sguardo sospeso/The suspense gaze) mentre la trascendenza lo è in Drop the body, di Patrick Tuttofuoco. Infine, il Paradiso dantesco è evocato da Silt Prophecy di Lucia Cristiani, che rappresenta un fondale argenteo in cui scorre un flusso d’acqua (realizzato in stagno), e Paradisi di Velasco Vitali, trentatré uccelli in bronzo patinato i quali posano sui rami di trentatré alberi piantati nel prato di CityLife.”[. . .] –Giulia Ronchi, Artribune, March 29, 2021 (retrieved April 12, 2022)

“Riflessioni semiserie da dantedì ovvero la lezione di Beatrice”, Antonella Valoroso (2021)

April 11, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“Mentre tramonta il sole sul dantedì2021, in quella che per Dante è ‘’l’ora che volge il disìo’, mi viene in mente che, nonostante il mio ininterrotto amore per il divino poeta, non ho mai provato a pensare a Dante in una prospettiva femminista. Ed ecco che TRE riflessioni si accavallano e si intrecciano l’una all’altra, proprio come i versi delle terzine della Commedia.

“Riflessione numero uno, ispirata dalle illustrazioni dell’Inferno di Gustave Doré. Riflessione numero due, ispirata dal dipinto ‘Francesca di Rimini nell’inferno dantesco’ di Nicola Monti, recentemente acquisito dalla Galleria degli Uffizi. Riflessione numero tre, ispirata dai versi 7-12 del XVII canto del Paradiso.

“Buon dantedì (e e ogni altro giorno) a tutte le donne e a tutti gli uomini che non hanno paura di dare voce propri pensieri e al proprio disìo!” [. . .] –Antonella Valoroso, Corriere, March 27, 2021 (retrieved April 11, 2022)

To read Valoroso’s full reflections, visit the full article here.

“Di soglia in soglia” between Dakar and Ravenna Cultural Event in Ravenna, Italy (2021)

April 10, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“The city of Ravenna is dedicating 30 July to the deep cultural bonds established over the years with Senegal, remembering Mandiaye N’Diaye, who initiated these relations. The day is also in honor of Dante: ‘Di soglia in soglia’ (‘From rank to rank’) is a verse from Canto III of Paradise and in the evening Canto I of the Divine Comedy will be read, translated for the first time into Wolof.

“It is at this point that we arrive in Ravenna: the Institute of Dakar contacted the Teatro delle Albe, which has been involved in Senegal for over thirty years following the long-time collaboration with the Senegalese actor and director Mandiaye N’Diaye, who passed away in 2014, proposing the publication, together, of a book that would collect testimonies of the cultural ties between Ravenna and Senegal and the creation of this day on 30 July, dedicated to these relationships and to Mandiaye N’Diaye, all in the name of Dante, in the year of the 700th anniversary of his death.” [. . .] —Italiana, July 30, 2021 (retrieved April 10, 2022)

The event included a round table discussion of Italian-Senegalese relations as well as a presentation on the translation of Canto I into Wolof and the work of Mandiya N’Diaye. Later on, a reading of Canto I in both Italian and Wolof was held at the tomb of Dante in Ravenna. For more information and a full program, visit the event’s website here.

The real scandal of Dante’s Beatrice Blog Article, Oxford University Press (2021)

April 10, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

In honor of the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, the Oxford University Press asked authors with Dante-related writings to submit articles to the OUPblog. The following was written by Duke University’s Associate Professor of Italian Studies, Martin Eisner:

“For over 700 years, Dante’s description of his first encounter with Beatrice has scandalized readers. Medieval commentators debate Dante’s possible blasphemy in glorifying a mortal woman. Counter-reformation editors censor it. Some modern interpreters see it as a theological or political allegory without biographical foundation, while others consider it an idealized modern reciprocal romance. In Dante’s New Life of the Book, I examine how these various responses from Giovanni Boccaccio to Orhan Pamuk bring into focus the novelty of Dante’s Beatrice, who creates a connection to the divine that includes not only Beatrice, but all humans. Beatrice embodies Dante’s optimistic sense of human potentiality that provides the philosophical ground for the rewards and punishments of the Divine Comedy.

“Beatrice is not the singular, exclusive child of God. She represents all humans, whose souls God breathes directly into them (Purgatory, canto 25) . . . Joining his love of a mortal woman with his love of God, Dante expands his vision to encompass other individuals as well. You may worry that Dante has put too much on the shoulders of an eight-year-old girl, but the real scandal of Dante’s Beatrice is that Dante thinks you can be Beatrice, too.” [. . .] –Martin Eisner, OUPblog, September 9, 2021 (retrieved April 10, 2022)

Divinity and damnation — why Dante still matters Article, Financial Times (2021)

March 30, 2022 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“‘Onorate l’altissimo poeta!’ — ‘Honour the supreme poet!’ In Dante’s Divine Comedy, these words are said of Virgil, Dante’s guide through Hell and Purgatory. Now, 700 years after Dante’s death on September 14, 1321, it seems more right than ever to apply the words to Dante himself.

“Dante’s reputation has never stood higher. He has been revered by an extraordinary number of the greatest poets and writers of the past hundred years — Eliot, Pound, Joyce, Beckett, Borges, Montale, and the great Armenian poet Yeghishe Charents, to name only a few.” [. . .] –Robert Chandler, Financial Times, September 28, 2021 (retrieved March 30, 2022)

Chandler’s article, published originally in the British newspaper Financial Times, goes on to review three Dante-related books: Dante by Alessandro Barbero, a translation of Purgatorio by D.M. Black, and Visions of Heaven by Martin Kemp. View our posts for each of these by clicking their respective links. The full text of the article is available here.

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