Una proposta per Paradiso VII, 145-8

The essay moves from the need to correctly interpret vv. 145-8 of canto VII of the Paradiso, alluding to the resurrection of bodies. In general, it was understood that the sacrifice of Christ, to which the discourse on the resurrection is directly connected, freed man from original sin, and thus restored him to the original condition in which the body would have been eternal as the fruit of direct creation (vv. 67-72), such as angels, the heavens and the raw material. In these terms, the explanation of the final verses, which makes the death of the body a sort of interval or parenthesis between two eternities, appears, if not explicitly heretical, very daring, and some scholars have thought of a peculiarly Dantean devolution. Moreover, it is in contrast with the doctrine clearly shown by Aquinas in his Compendium Theologiae, according to which originally the body was not properly immortal but rather rendered incorruptible by the soul that would have, so to say, adequate it to itself. In other words, the body would have enjoyed the privilege of the posse non mori, lost with the sin of our forefathers; only with the incarnation of Christ and with redemption such privilege would have changed nature, and the body would have acquired the prerogative of the non posse mori, which is of the real immortality and which it will enjoy at the time of the final judgment.

Dante eterodosso?

It is frequently assumed that doubts about Dante’s orthodoxy began to circulate in historiography at the beginning of the twentieth century, when his alleged ‘Thomism’ was seriously questioned by Bruno Nardi, who demonstrated that not only in the Convivio, but even in the Monarchia and in the Commedia, one can find themes and ideas inspired by Averroes and by the so-called Latin Averroists. Besides showing that controversies on this point started much earlier, this paper highlights that, whilst a plurality of conceptions of Dante’s ‘heterodoxy’ soon emerged, ‘orthodoxy’ was, and still is, too hastily identified with ‘Thomism’. Moreover, it argues that anachronistic views of the distinction between ‘orthodoxy’ and ‘heterodoxy’, as well as of ‘Thomism’, have to be avoided, and suggests that some passages of Dante’s works where Nardi and his followers detected ‘residuals’ of Averroism have been over-interpreted.

L’Empireo in Dante e la «divina scienza» del Convivio

Building on recent scholarship, this essay reconsiders Dante’s description of the Empyrean and of divine science in his Convivio (II, III, 8-11 and XIV, 19-20), by emphasising their deep connection and profound otherness in comparison with physical reality and human knowledge. First, it is argued that, in his treatise, Dante describes the Empyrean as a non-material sky. Second, a new appraisal of Dante’s definition of divine science is offered, one which stresses the author’s reference to the words uttered by Christ during the Last Supper, and the role that the whole passage and its medieval exegesis ascribe to the Holy Spirit in clarifying the divine teachings conveyed by the Gospels.

«Intelletto d’amore».

The essay takes into consideration the importance of the affective mysticism of the twelfth century for the beginnings and development of Dante’s poetry, starting from the novelty of ‘praise’ formulated in the Vita nova up to the most mature reworkings, in the canto XXIV of the Purgatorio and along the last cantos of the poem. The focus is on the works of William of Saint-Thierry, in particular on his Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, in which there is a first attestation of the formula intellectus amoris, a possible source for the famous Dante’s incipit Donne ch’avete intelletto d’amore and for the concept of love that follows from it. The essay then focuses on the high frequency of intertextual references to texts belonging to the tradition of affective mysticism, including the works of William himself, in early romance poetry, highlighting the continuity between this line of inspiration and Dante’s poetics.

Un eretico tra i «seminator di scandalo e di scisma»

The essay reconsiders the problem of fra Dolcino in the Commedia starting from the apparent contradiction of the placement of the medieval heretic in the ‘bolgia’ of the schismatics (Inf. XXVIII) rather than in the ‘cerchio’ dedicated to the punishment of heretics (Inf. X). There, instead, Dante places sinners who fall within the general definition of Epicureans, which partially satisfies the identification with the medieval concept of heresy. After an in-depth analysis of Dante’s ‘terzine’ (Inf. XXVIII, 55-60), the early glosses on the poem and the most ancient testimonies on the figure of Dolcino, including the indirect evidence of his writings, are examined with the aim of shedding light on the perception that Dante could have had of this major heretic of the early fourteenth century and the reasons for his condemnation as schismatic, which seems to transcend the mere guilt of heresy.

L’Anonimo Teologo: una proposta di lettura

The essay gives the analysis and interpretation of some peculiar aspects of the MS Egerton 943 (British Library, London), one of the most important and precious codex of the Comedy. The first part is focused on the palaeographical aspect of the two hands that copied the poem and some explanatory glosses. The second part concentrates on the text copied by the hand B, the so called Anonymus Theologus commentary. Following a general introduction to this commentary, a deep study of the glosses to Par. I-XI, the most original part of the text, is undertaken. On the analysis of these glosses the Anonymous Theologus seems to establish a parallel between the raptus of St. Paul and the dantean ascent of the Paradise.

Soteriologia e Passione nella Commedia

The present study examines the shift in late medieval devotion and spirituality to the affective consideration of and participation to the sufferings of Christ on the Cross (Christus patiens). Particular attention is given to Bonaventure’s theology of the Cross and to narratives of the Passion of Christ included in writings of Franciscan friars such as Ubertino da Casale and the visual representations sponsored by the mendicants. Against this backdrop, the Author analyses Dante’s representation of the Passion’s episodes in the Comedy. On the basis of the poet’s narrative and lexical choices, the Author notes the absence of the most vivid details associated to the Christus Patiens. In the light of contemporary theological discussion on soteriology, the Author hypothesises that Dante wishes to represent the Passion as a triumph of the divine caritas that ultimately motivates the history of salvation.

Visioni bibliche e investitura poetica

The essay analyses paragraphs 77-82 of Dante’s Epistle to Cangrande della Scala. After a discussion of the three typologies of divine vision acknowledged by medieval culture since Augustine, the essay shows how the biblical examples recalled in the Epistle in relation to the visionary experience of Paradiso correspond to them: the raptus of Paul (visio intellectualis), the vision of the Apostles on Mount Tabor (visio corporalis), the vision of the prophet Ezekiel (visio imaginaria or spiritualis). Finally, the essay analyses how the choice of these unusual examples establishes a deep relationship with what the poet says about his own experience in the final cantos of Purgatorio and in Paradiso.