The present work aims to highlight the visual reading of Dante’s Paradiso offered by the Venetian prints Benali-Capcasa and Piasi, published in Venice on 3th March and 18th November 1491 respectively; they are accompanied by Cristoforo Landino’s Comento so-pra la Comedia and both contain a corpus of woodcuts covering all three cantica, for the first time in the printed tradition of the poem. The content of some of the illustrations in the two incunabula reflects an interest in the actual topography of the poem through the reproduction of miniature views of Italian and “exotic” cities and islands. The article also emphasises how this phenomenon can be traced back to a renewed interest in the physical world, which is conventionally ascribed to the rediscovery of Ptolemy’s Geographia in the 15th century, and which is accompanied by new logics of interpretation of real space in the literary and visual arts scene. In this scenario, one can also observe a gradual change in the modes of reading and reception of Dante’s poem. Furthermore, the contribution dwells on the content of specific images transmitted by the Venetian incunabula and relating to certain cantos of Paradiso, which share the presence of the maritime element; the relationship between literary space and real space is investigated in these illustrations, in certain cases (Pd. II, XIX, XXVII) identifying pos-sible actualising elements that highlight a gap between these images – which are some-times posed as spaces of interpretation by readers – and the texts they refer to (Dante’s and Landino’s).The ultimate purpose is to highlight how images, when combined with a text such as the Commedia, can be bearers of meaning, as well as adding a piece to the methodological studies on the iconographical tradition of Dante’s poem.
Il contributo si propone lo scopo di valorizzare la lettura visuale del Paradiso dantesco offerta dalle edd. veneziane Benali-Capcasa e Piasi, licenziate a Venezia rispettivamente il 3 marzo e il 18 novembre 1491; esse sono entrambe accompagnate dal Comento sopra la Comedia di Cristoforo Landino e corredate di un corpus di xilografie esteso a tutte e tre le cantiche, per la prima volta nella tradizione a stampa del poema. Il contenuto di alcune illustrazioni dei due incunaboli riflette un interesse per la topografia reale del poema, attraverso la riproduzione di vedute di città e isole in miniatura, italiane ed “esotiche”. Si sottolinea, nel contributo, come tale fenomeno sia riconducibile ad un rinnovato interesse per il mondo fisico, che convenzionalmente si ascrive alla riscoperta della Geographia di Tolomeo nel XV secolo e che si accompagna a nuove logiche di interpretazione dello spazio reale nel panorama letterario e delle arti visive. In questo scenario, si osserva anche un graduale cambiamento nelle modalità di lettura e ricezione del poema dantesco. Il contributo si sofferma, inoltre, sul contenuto di immagini specifiche trasmesse dagli incunaboli veneziani e relative ad alcuni canti del Paradiso, che condividono la presenza dell’elemento marittimo e delle quali si indaga il rapporto tra spazio letterario e spazio reale, in certi casi (Pd. II, XIX, XXVII) individuando possibili elementi attualizzanti che generano uno scarto tra queste immagini – le quali possono talvolta divenire spazi di interpretazione da parte dei lettori – e i loro ipotesti (i dettati dantesco e landiniano). L’obiettivo finale è mettere in luce come le immagini, quando vengano accostate ad un testo come la Commedia, possano essere portatrici di senso, nonché aggiungere un tassello alle riflessioni metodologiche sulla tradizione iconografica del poema dantesco.
La 'Commedia' e il mondo mediterraneo. Topografia ed elementi attualizzanti nelle illustrazioni di due incunaboli veneziani (Benali-Capcasa e Piasi, 1491)
Giulia Monaco
2024-01-01
Abstract
The present work aims to highlight the visual reading of Dante’s Paradiso offered by the Venetian prints Benali-Capcasa and Piasi, published in Venice on 3th March and 18th November 1491 respectively; they are accompanied by Cristoforo Landino’s Comento so-pra la Comedia and both contain a corpus of woodcuts covering all three cantica, for the first time in the printed tradition of the poem. The content of some of the illustrations in the two incunabula reflects an interest in the actual topography of the poem through the reproduction of miniature views of Italian and “exotic” cities and islands. The article also emphasises how this phenomenon can be traced back to a renewed interest in the physical world, which is conventionally ascribed to the rediscovery of Ptolemy’s Geographia in the 15th century, and which is accompanied by new logics of interpretation of real space in the literary and visual arts scene. In this scenario, one can also observe a gradual change in the modes of reading and reception of Dante’s poem. Furthermore, the contribution dwells on the content of specific images transmitted by the Venetian incunabula and relating to certain cantos of Paradiso, which share the presence of the maritime element; the relationship between literary space and real space is investigated in these illustrations, in certain cases (Pd. II, XIX, XXVII) identifying pos-sible actualising elements that highlight a gap between these images – which are some-times posed as spaces of interpretation by readers – and the texts they refer to (Dante’s and Landino’s).The ultimate purpose is to highlight how images, when combined with a text such as the Commedia, can be bearers of meaning, as well as adding a piece to the methodological studies on the iconographical tradition of Dante’s poem.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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