| Epistle to Cangrande | |
|---|---|
| Epistola a Cangrande | |
 Copy of the Epistle to Cangrande | |
| Full title | Epistle XIII to Cangrande della Scala |
| Ascribed to | Dante Alighieri |
| Dedicated to | Cangrande della Scala |
| Language | Latin |
| Date | before 1343 |
| Authenticity | Disputed |
| Genre | Epistle |
| Subject | Meaning of the Divine Comedy |
The Epistle XIII to Cangrande della Scala (Italian : Epistola XIII a Cangrande della Scala) is a letter of disputed authenticity sent by Dante Alighieri to his patron, Cangrande I della Scala. [1] [2]
The exact date that the letter was written is unknown. The letter was cited by the Italian copyist Andrea Lancia in 1343 and then by the chronicler Filippo Villani around 1400. Some authors have suggested that Jacopo della Lana cited the letter in the 1320s, but this is disputed. [3]
The letter is divided into three parts: A dedication to Cangrande I della Scala, an accessus or introduction, and an exposition of the Divine Comedy . [3]
...the paternity of the Epistle has been for some time a political football in Dante studies. It is a talismanic topic, and by revealing one's position with regard to the paternity of the Epistle, one potentially reveals a host of other vested interests and beliefs [4] : 140
The question of whether or not the Epistle is a forgery is controversial among Dante scholars. Scholars such as Henry Ansgar Kelly and Bruno Nardi have argued against its authenticity, whereas scholars such as Francesco Mazzoni , Robert Hollander, and Charles Singleton have argued that the document is authentic. [3] [5] [4] Kelly specifically contends that Dante wrote the dedication but the rest of the letter was written by a "Pseudo-Dante". [3] The academics Ralph G. Hall and Madison U. Sowell have suggested that American scholars are more likely to accept the Epistle as authentic while British and Italian scholars are more likely to consider it a forgery. [6] : 144 John Ciardi, who wrote a translation of the Divine Comedy, argued that the framework provided by the letter is useful regardless of its authenticity. [7] The scholar Teodolinda Barolini has described the Epistle as a red herring, writing that "frankly, I don't care if the Epistle is Dante's or not, since I think the answers that I seek regarding the [Divine Comedy] are to be found in the poem itself." [4] : 143
In 2019, researchers for the Italian Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione attempted to use machine learning to determine authorship of the Epistle. Their results supported the theory that it was forged, however the authors noted that their study "should not be considered conclusive". [8] : 5
Dante Alighieri, most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and widely known and often referred to in English mononymously as Dante was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.
The Divine Comedy is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of Western literature. The poem's imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval worldview as it existed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
Allen Mandelbaum was an American professor of literature and the humanities, poet, and translator from Classical Greek, Latin and Italian. His translations of classic works gained him numerous awards in Italy and the United States.
Beatrice "Bice" di Folco Portinari was an Italian woman who has been commonly identified as the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri's Vita Nuova, and is also identified with the Beatrice who acts as his guide in the last book of his narrative poem the Divine Comedy, Paradiso, and during the conclusion of the preceding Purgatorio. In the Comedy, Beatrice symbolises divine grace and theology.
Purgatorio is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno and preceding the Paradiso. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of Dante up the Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil – except for the last four cantos, at which point Beatrice takes over as Dante's guide. Allegorically, Purgatorio represents the penitent Christian life. In describing the climb Dante discusses the nature of sin, examples of vice and virtue, as well as moral issues in politics and in the Church. The poem posits the theory that all sins arise from love – either perverted love directed towards others' harm, or deficient love, or the disordered or excessive love of good things.
Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta was an Italian medieval noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a contemporary of Dante Alighieri, who portrayed her as a character in the Divine Comedy.
Cangrandedella Scala was an Italian nobleman, belonging to the della Scala family who ruled Verona from 1308 until 1387. Now perhaps best known as the leading patron of the poet Dante Alighieri and featuring prominently in Giovanni Boccaccio's almost contemporary Decameron, Cangrande was in his own day chiefly acclaimed as a successful warrior and autocrat. Between becoming sole ruler of Verona in 1311 and his death in 1329 he took control of several neighbouring cities, notably Vicenza, Padua and Treviso, and came to be regarded as the leader of the Ghibelline faction in northern Italy.
Ugolino Visconti, better known as Nino, was the Giudice of Gallura from 1275 or 1276 to his death. He was a son of Giovanni Visconti and grandson of Ugolino della Gherardesca. He was the first husband of Beatrice d'Este, daughter of Obizzo II d'Este. His symbol was a cock.
Joannaof Gallura, also known as Giovanna Visconti, was the last titular Judge (giudicessa) of Gallura. Joanna claimed her rights in Sardinia to no avail and eventually sold them to her relatives, the Visconti of Milan, who later sold them to the Crown of Aragon. She is mentioned passingly by Dante Alighieri in the Divine Comedy. Her father, a friend of Dante's, but consigned to Purgatory with the other negligent rulers, asks her to be reminded of him.
Calcabrina is one of the demons featured in Inferno, the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. Calcabrina's name is possibly meant to mean "grace-stomper" or "frost trampler."
The Malebranche are the demons in the Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy who guard Bolgia Five of the Eighth Circle (Malebolge). They figure in Cantos XXI, XXII, and XXIII. Vulgar and quarrelsome, their duty is to force the corrupt politicians (barrators) to stay under the surface of a boiling lake of pitch.
"Raphèl mai amècche zabì almi" is a verse from Dante's Inferno, XXXI.67. The verse is shouted out by Nimrod, one of the giants who guard the Ninth Circle of Hell. The line, whose literal meaning is uncertain, is usually interpreted as a sign of the confusion of the languages caused by the fall of the Tower of Babel.
Robert M. Durling was an American scholar and translator, known for his translations of Petrarch's Rime Sparse and of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. He was professor emeritus of Italian and English literature at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He died on May 21, 2015.
Oderisi da Gubbio was an Italian painter and manuscript illuminator of the 13th century. Few details of his life are known. Documents to his activities in Bologna span from 1262 to 1271. In 1292, he was called to Rome by Pope Boniface VIII to illuminate manuscripts in the papal library.
The Dante Society of America is an American academic society devoted to the study of Dante Alighieri. One of the oldest scholarly societies in North America, it predates both the Modern Language Association, founded in 1883, and the American Historical Association, founded in 1884. After the German Dante Society, it is the second-oldest scholarly organization devoted to the study of Dante. The Society was also one of the first scholarly societies in the United States to have women among its founding members. The current president is Alison Cornish of New York University.
Marco Lombardo was a courtier from medieval Lombardy. His date of birth and true identity are unknown, but he is thought to have lived during the second half of the thirteenth century. He is also believed to have served many courts and possibly those of Gherardo III da Camino and Ugolino della Gherardesca. Some historians – e.g. Emilio Orioli and Francesco Filippini – identified him with Marco da Saliceto. He was widely known in medieval Italy and appeared as a character of anecdotes and short stories even before Dante's creation of the Divine Comedy.
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The second circle of hell is depicted in Dante Alighieri's 14th-century poem Inferno, the first part of the Divine Comedy. Inferno tells the story of Dante's journey through a vision of the Christian hell ordered into nine circles corresponding to classifications of sin; the second circle represents the sin of lust, where the lustful are punished by being buffeted within an endless tempest.
Robert B. Hollander Jr. was an American academic and translator, most widely known for his work on Dante Alighieri and Giovanni Boccaccio. He was described by a department chair at Princeton University as "a pioneer in the creation of digital resources for the study of literature" for his work on the electronic Princeton and Dartmouth Dante projects. In 2008, he and his wife, Jean Hollander, co-received a Gold Florin award from the City of Florence for their English translation of Dante's Divine Comedy.
Tibor Ivan Wlassics was a Hungarian scholar of Italian literature. He fled Hungary after the 1956 revolution and eventually settled in the United States, becoming a professor at the University of Virginia. He is most remembered for his research on the poet Dante Alighieri, though he also wrote about Italian figures such as Galileo Galilei and Cesare Pavese.