| Epistle to Cangrande | |
|---|---|
| Epistola a 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.[ citation needed ] The Dante 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". [7] : 5
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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.
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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.
Benvenuto Rambaldi da Imola, or simply and perhaps more accurately Benvenuto da Imola, was an Italian scholar and historian, a lecturer at Bologna. He is now best known for his commentary on Dante's Divine Comedy.
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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. 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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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.
