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Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

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“Dante died – why should we worry?”

October 27, 2021 By Hannah Raisner, FSU '25

Forty-South-Tasmania-Banner“Dante Alighieri died on September 14, 700 years ago. You could ask why this should be noted; why it should be at all important? What follows is an attempt to answer that question. As I hope you will see, Dante is important; art is important; life must be examined.

[. . .]

“[A]lthough Boccaccio revered Dante, and Dante wrote in the Florentine vernacular, Dante Alighieri was different. He was from a slightly earlier generation. Boccaccio was just eight when Dante died. And the Commedia is completely a work of Dante’s imagination and his lived experience. It is not recycled stories. Yes, he draws on philosophical, and more importantly, theological concepts for his construction of Purgatorio (where Aquinas is important) Inferno and Paradiso, but the fabulous construction of the nether-world is his alone, and it is populated by historical figures or by Dante’s contemporaries. They all receive their punishment or reward according to his moral judgement of them as he journeys through Purgatory and Hell, first guided by Virgil, then – at last, in Paradise – by his platonic love and muse, Beatrice. Dante meets everyone and sees their torment, their equanimity or their reward.

The really important moral message of the Commedia, for me, is that actions matter. You will be judged, so try to do good. [. . .]”    –James Parker, Forty South Tasmania, Sep. 30, 2021

James Parker is a Tasmanian historian and is the creator of the Van Diemen Decameron. Read his full essay here.

Categories: Written Word
Tagged with: 2021, 700th anniversary, Australia, Beatrice, Boccaccio, Essays, Philosophy, Tasmania

The Dante Project, The Royal Ballet (2021)

October 11, 2021 By Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall

“Presented as part of the 700th anniversary celebrations of the poet’s death, Dante’s epic journey through the afterlife, The Divine Comedy, is realised in a major artistic collaboration between trailblazing forces of the contemporary arts scene.

“In an inaugural co-production with Paris Opera Ballet and music co-commission with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Wayne McGregor’s groundbreaking choreography comes together with a virtuoso new score by one of the most influential musicians of the 21st Century, composer-conductor Thomas Adès, and designs by the acclaimed artist Tacita Dean, celebrated for her pioneering and poetic work across film and other mediums. With esteemed lighting designer Lucy Carter and dramaturg Uzma Hameed, the creative team unite in this three-part work for the full Company to illuminate the extraordinary vision of Dante.”   —The Dante Project, Royal Opera House

Book tickets here (runs from October 14-30, 2021).

Stream the ballet here (from October 29, 2021).

A couple of teasers! Watch principals Francesca Hayward and Matthew Ball rehearse Inferno 5 (Paolo and Francesca in the whirlwind), with direction from Wayne McGregor, here.

And watch principals Edward Watson and Sarah Lamb rehearse the meeting with Beatrice in the Earthly Paradise here.

Sarah Crompton, writing for The Guardian, calls the performance “bold, beautiful, emotional and utterly engaging. The opening section, Inferno, where Dante (Watson) journeys to hell in the company of Virgil (Gary Avis), all but blows your socks off.” Read the review here.

 

Categories: Performing Arts
Tagged with: 2021, 700th anniversary, Ballet, Beatrice, Canto 5, Choreography, Dance, Earthly Paradise, England, Hell, Inferno, London, Music, Paolo and Francesca, Purgatorio, Purgatory

Sylvain Reynard, Gabriel’s Inferno (2012)

July 26, 2021 By Professor Elizabeth Coggeshall

“Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well-respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.

“When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.

“An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel’s Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man’s escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible—forgiveness and love.”   —Penguin Random House

The 2012 novel, set in Toronto, was adapted into a three-part series of films starring Giulio Berruti and Melanie Zanetti and directed by Tosca Musk. It was produced and released by Musk’s company Passionflix in 2020. The image above comes from the Amazon Prime Video page for the film. Gabriel’s Rapture (Part Two) and Gabriel’s Redemption (Part Three) are scheduled for release in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Contributed by Margaret Goodspeed

Categories: Performing Arts, Written Word
Tagged with: 2012, 2020, Beatrice, Campus, Canada, Colleges, Erotica, Films, Hell, Inferno, Love, Novels, Romance, Sex, Students, Teaching, Toronto, Universities

Jews in Dante

July 18, 2021 By Professor Arielle Saiber


“This year, commemorations of the 700th anniversary of the death of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri, author of The Divine Comedy, have scarcely addressed the subject of how Dante wrote about Jews.

“Dante places a number of Old Testament Jews, including Abraham, Sarah, Rachel and Joshua in Paradise. Because some of the limited space is left empty there for Christians, the complement of Jews who prefigure the New Testament is full; so there are, at least temporarily, more Jews in Dante’s Paradise than Christians.

“Dante’s Purgatory includes the story of Mordecai and Haman to decry the sin of anger, whereas Daniel is praised for his temperance. In his Paradise, Dante likewise lauds Joshua and Judas Maccabeus as combatants for righteousness, while King David and Hezekiah from the Second Book of Kings and Second Book of Chronicles are exalted as just monarchs.” […].   –Benjamin Ivry, The Forward, July 18, 2021

See the rest of this essay for many more references to Jews in Dante’s works, and Jews who have cited Dante as inspiration for their work and thought.  It is debatable, however, that there are no Jews in Inferno.

Categories: Written Word
Tagged with: 2021, 700th anniversary, Adam, Beatrice, Carlo Michelstaedter, De vulgari eloquentia, Giorgio Voghera, Immanuel ben Solomon ben Jekuthiel, Inferno, Israel, Italy, Jewish, Livorno, Lorenzo Da Ponte, Osip Mandelstam, Paradiso, Primo Levi, Purgatorio, Quaestio de aqua et terra, Verona

Controversial “Kiss of Dante and Beatrice” portrait, Roberto Ferri (2021)

July 8, 2021 By Professor Arielle Saiber

“One of the most legendary love stories never happened. Ice cream brand Magnum has reimagined history by commissioning an original artwork inspired by Dante Alighieri and his muse Beatrice.

“For International Kissing Day (July 6) and the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, Magnum asked the renowned Italian artist Roberto Ferri—dubbed the modern Caravaggio and portrait painter of Pope Francis—to realize the love story between the poet and Beatrice.” [. . .]    –Brittaney Kiefer, Adweek, July 7, 2021

Brief video here:

Categories: Consumer Goods, Visual Art & Architecture
Tagged with: 2021, Beatrice, Ice cream, International Kissing Day, Italy, Portraits, Rome

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How to Cite

Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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