“Naples continues to celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri, the Father of the Italian language, in its own unique way. After creating Dante figurines for Christmas cribs, the southern Italian city is now devoting an out-sized Easter tradition to the Supreme Poet, reports Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Master chocolatiers at the historic Gay-Odin factory in Naples have created a two-metre high Easter egg decorated with a portrait of Dante along with some verses from The Divine Comedy. The mediaeval poet and philosopher is portrayed on the enormous egg – which boasts 300 kilos of chocolate – in his traditional red robes and laurel wreath, based on the fresco in the Duomo in Florence.” [. . .] —WantedInRome, March 21, 2021.
Carmine Cervone’s printing of Dante’s Commedia on a traditional printing press (2021)
“Carmine Cervone è nato e cresciuto in una famiglia di tipografi. Da piccolo aveva un sogno: Stampare la Divina Commedia, su carta pregiata, utilizzando macchinari che oggi è quasi impossibile trovare ancora all’opera. Oggi, nel pieno di una pandemia mondiale, ha deciso di realizzare quel progetto. Un’operazione minuziosa che non contempla errori. E che ha come fine ultimo un progetto ambizioso: Una tipografia museo, dove poter coinvolgere i passanti in questa arte quasi dimenticata.” —Youmedia, February 1, 2021.
Cervone’s traditional printing studio is Officina d’Arti Grafiche in Naples, Italy. He welcomes visitors. Facebook page here.
Andy Warhol at Ristorante Dante e Beatrice (Naples, Italy, circa 1980)
Andy Warhol at Ristorante Dante e Beatrice (Naples, Italy) circa 1980
Copyright © The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc
Stanford University Libraries
Contributed by Sabrina Lin (Bowdoin College, ’21)
Tappeto Volante’s Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso
The theater troupe Tappeto Volante has staged multiple immersive, ambulatory performances of Dante’s canticles in different locations in the province of Salerno. The first, Inferno, was staged in the Grotte di Pertosa-Auletta (also the backdrop for the 2020 musical Inferno, by the Grieco Brothers) and has been running continuously in the Cave of Castelcivita since 2012. They continued with a performance of Purgatorio at the Certosa di Pedula. They return to Salerno for their Paradiso, staged in the Castello di Arechi (promotional poster, right).
The troupe has also performed their Inferno in the Museo del Sottosuolo, and their Purgatorio in the Real Casa Santa dell’Annunziata, both in Naples.
See the Tappeto Volante website for details and reservations.
Eggs in Purgatory
Giuseppe Topo, on Napoli Unplugged, November 16, 2012
Fried eggs.
Like the second part of Dante’s Divine Comedy.
Trapped between heaven and hell.
Uova in Purgatorio, Ova ‘mpriatorio in Neapolitan, or Eggs in Purgatory, this could only be a Neapolitan dish.
Taking its inspiration from Il culto delle anime del Purgatorio, the cult of the Souls of Purgatory, this classic “secondo” comes directly from the pages of Cucina Povera Napoletana. And it is symbolic of the Neapolitan preoccupation with purgatory and the ancient cult that worships anonymous human remains. A tradition that endures in places like the 17th century Santa Maria delle Anima del Purgatorio ad Arco Church in Centro Storico and the Fontanelle Cemetery in Rione Sanità in the scenes of purgatory depicted in the shrines Neapolitans are fond of erecting around the city. And in this culinary rendition of the tradition, where the eggs play the role of souls seeking purification, the sauce, that of the flames of purgatory.
The eggs bubble away in the sauce until the whites are completely cooked, or perhaps we should say, purified. And one can only guess that like the milk from the Virgin’s breast, the breaking of the yolks into the sauce symbolises the extinguishing of the flames. Ouva in Purgatorio, a simple and economical dish that packs a lot of flavour and recalls a tradition that lives on in the hearts and the minds of the Neapolitan people.
Ingredients
1 – 14 oz Can Peeled Tomatoes (or use your leftover Ragù)
4 Eggs
1 Large or 2 Small Cloves Garlic, peeled and halved
Olive Oil
Parsley
Salt and Pepper
