Probably many know or at least heard aboutDante Alighieri and his immortal work "The Divine Comedy." Nowadays Dante has become popular with many people thanks to Dan Brown’s Inferno and the film based on this novel. "Divine Comedy", in fact, is the pinnacle of Dante's work and the greatest creation of all European medieval literature. But few people know how this magnificent work appeared, for whom it was written and how it is connected with the life of Dante. In this article you will find answers to all these questions and even more. And we begin with the biography of Dante, because it contains the answer to one of the questions voiced above.
Biography
Dante's ancestors were not ordinary people.According to legend, they were among those who founded Florence. Dante himself was born in the same city in May 1265. The exact date of his birth is not set due to lack of data. The place of study of a talented writer and poet is unknown, but it is known that he gained extensive knowledge in literature, science and religion. His first mentor, according to historians, was Brunetto Latini - a well-known Italian scholar and poet at the time. The researchers assumed that in 1286-1287 Dante studied at the very famous and status institution of that time - the University of Bologna.
Deciding to prove yourself as a publicfigure, Alighieri at the end of the XIII century, actively participated in the life of Florence and in 1301 received the title of prior - at that time a fairly high title. However, in 1302 he, together with the White Guelph party he had created, was expelled from Florence. By the way, he also died in exile, never seeing his native city anymore. In these difficult years, Dante was fascinated by the lyrics. And what were the first works of this great poet, and what was their fate, we now tell.
Early works
By that time, Dante already had the work La Vita Nuova ("New life").But the next two treatises were never completed. Among them, "Pir" is a kind of commentary and interpretation to canzons. Dante loved his native language and constantly fought with all his kind for his development. That is why the treatise "On the national language", written by the poet in Latin, was born. He was awaited by the fate of "Pir": he was also not finished. After Alighieri abandoned work on these works, his mind and time took a new work - "The Divine Comedy." Now let's talk about it in more detail.
"The Divine Comedy"
Work on this poem dedicated to BeatricePortinari, Dante began, being in exile. It consists of three parts, called the corners: Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. By the way, Dante finished writing the last of them shortly before his death and still managed to finish the work. Each edicule includes several songs consisting of tertsin. An interesting fact: in the "Divine Comedy" there are exactly 100 songs, and in each part there are thirty-three, and another one is made as an introduction.
We told about the life of Dante, his works,but they missed the most important thing: the one for whom he wrote the Divine Comedy. The biography of this Italian poet is a love story to the grave, unrequited and tragic.
Dante and Beatrice Portinari
Dante's personal life was associated with only onea woman. He met her while still a boy - he was nine years old. At a celebration in the city, he saw an eight-year-old daughter of a neighbor, whose name was Beatrice. Truly Dante fell in love with her when nine years later he met her already married girl. Unrequited love tormented the poet, and even seven years after the death of Beatrice Portinari, he did not forget about it. Already after several centuries, the name of Dante and his beloved became a symbol of the undivided true platonic love.
Beatrice Portinare, whose biography is famousonly thanks to Dante’s love for her, tragically cut off: she dies at the age of twenty-four. However, this does not mean that the great Italian poet stopped loving her. Though he entered into a marriage of convenience, he loved only her all his life until his death. Dante was somewhat shy and, being in love with Beatrice, he spoke to her only twice in his life. It is impossible to call these contacts even conversations: when they met on the street, Beatrice Portinari and Dante simply greeted each other. After this, the poet, inspired by the thought that the love of his life paid attention to him, ran home, where he had a dream, which would become one of the fragments of the New Life. The first conversation between Dante Alighieri and Beatrice Portinari took place when they were still children and met for the first time at a holiday in Florence.
Many more times Dante saw his beloved, buthe could not talk to her. So that Beatrice did not find out about his feelings, the poet often paid attention to other ladies, which at some point caused an insult to his beloved. It was because of this that she stopped talking to him later.
Fate beatrice
She was born in a rich family:his father, Folco de Portinari, was a famous Florentine banker, his mother also came from the family of bankers Bardi, who gave loans to the popes and kings. In addition to her, the family had 5 more daughters, which is not surprising for medieval Europe. As can be judged by the surviving information, the life of Biche, as her friends and Dante affectionately called her, proceeded very rapidly. At twenty-one, she married an influential banker from her mother's family, Simone dei Bardi. Three years later, Beatrice died. There are several versions of her death. One of them says that her beloved Dante died during childbirth, and the other - that her death is associated with illness. A couple of years after the death of Beatrice, Dante married a woman from an aristocratic Italian family of Donati.
Impact on Dante
Beatrice Portinari, whose portrait you cansee below, somewhat different from that described by Dante. In his works, he was inclined to idealize her image, turning it into a goddess, whom he worshiped. After the death of Beatrice Portinari, Dante, the photo of whose portraits you can see below, was depressed for a very long time. His family feared that the poet might commit suicide because he suffered so much. In the end, Dante's psychological crisis was over, and he began to write "New Life", inspired by various works written by authors who survived the loss of his beloved woman.
Role in art
The name Beatrice Portinari is preserved in history andIt became known to this day only thanks to Dante. In his works, she appears very often and in different forms. And this concerns not only "Divine Comedy", but other works: for example, in "New Life" and sonnets written by his friends. Beatrice also found her embodiment in the works of other authors, including Russians: Nikolai Gumilev, Konstantin Balmont, Valery Bryusov.
The Marriage of Beatrice Portinari
Contrary to the love of the great poet, his beloved is notHastened to render reciprocal signs of attention. Since she came from a noble family, she was destined to marry according to a rich member of her mother’s family, Simone de Bardi. It is not known whether she was happy or not. This can only be guessed at. By the way, when Dante saw Beatrice Portinari for the second time in her life, seven years after their meeting, when they were children, she was not yet married.
We can't say for sure Dante could becloser to Beatrice, or she had to remain until the end of his life the only and most expensive platonic love. In any case, both the life and death of Beatrice had a great influence on the culture of Italy as a whole, and on the Italian poet in particular. Including the death of the great poet is associated with suffering after the death of his beloved woman. And not without reason. We will see why.
Death of dante
A couple of years after Beatrice died,her secret admirer was married to a woman from an aristocratic family of Donati. All the time after this event and until his death Dante wrote. All the works that came out from under his pen, were certainly devoted to one Beatrice Portinari. Dante’s biography ends so fast and fast that you don’t even believe it. In 1316-1317, the great poet settles in the Italian city of Ravenna, arriving there at the invitation of the signore. Guido да Поленты.Appointed ambassador of Ravenna to conclude an armistice with the Republic of St. Mark, Dante travels to Venice. Negotiations ended successfully, but on the way back the poet contracted malaria and died without having reached Ravenna. Undoubtedly, the death of the great poet is inextricably linked with the death of Beatrice Portinari. You can see the photo of the death mask of Dante below.
Signor Guido dand Polenta promised to build a magnificent mausoleum inhonor Dante, however, for reasons unknown to us did not do it. The tomb of the great Italian poet was built only in 1780. Interesting fact: the portrait depicted on the tomb of Boccaccio is somewhat unreliable. On it Dante is depicted with a thick beard, whereas in real life he always shaved smoothly.
Interesting Facts
Based on the works of Dante was writtenmany pictures. Among the most famous is the Card of Hell (La mappa dell inferno) by Sandro Botticelli. Modern writer Dan Brown in his novel "Inferno" described the messages of a transhumanist Bertrand Zobrist, encoded in this picture. By the way, in the above-described work, practically the entire plot is tied to the "Divine Comedy" and its modern interpretation.
Eugene Delacroix, French painter,fascinated by the fate of Dante and Beatrice Portinari, whose portrait, unfortunately, was not preserved, painted the picture "The Boat of Dante", which also gained world fame.
Not spared the influence of Dante and Russianwriters and poets. For example, Anna Akhmatova has several poems, one way or another connected with Beatrice Portinari and Dante. The influence of the Italian writer on the Russian poet Nikolai Gumilev, who also used the image of Dante the exile in his work, is observed. Below you can see the picture "Rook Dante", which depicts the poet's journey to Hell. This is the very beginning of the Divine Comedy.
Conclusion
Наверняка каждый, кто проникся жизнью и чувствами Dante, now feels a slight (and maybe, heavy) sadness. Indeed, the story that happened between Beatrice Portinari and Dante Alighieri cannot be invented. This drama, so simple and insignificant in its details, creates at first a false impression of the unnatural love and meaninglessness of suffering. But thinking better, we understand that the main thing in this all is the feelings that the great Italian poet sang to his beloved Beatrice Portinari. Dante, whose portraits at different stages of his life you could see in our article, became part of world history and a symbol of true love, which is so lacking in the modern world.
