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Depicting Dante in Anglo-Italian Literary and Visual Arts Depicting Dante in Anglo-Italian Literary and Visual Arts Depicting Dante in Anglo-Italian Literary and Visual Arts: Allegory, Authority and Authenticity By Christoph Lehner Depicting Dante in Anglo-Italian Literary and Visual Arts: Allegory, Authority and Authenticity By Christoph Lehner This book first published 2017 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2017 by Christoph Lehner All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-9935-6 ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-9935-2 Dedicated to my family for their everlasting love and support, and to the memory of my beloved grandfather, Josef Anton Pytlik (1921-1997). Life has bestowed opportunities on me, which you had been denied. Conosco i segni de l’antica fiamma. —Dante Alighieri, Purg. XXX, 48. For last year's words belong to last year's language. And next year's words await another voice. —T.S. Eliot, Four Quartets TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .............................................................................. xi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................. xiii PREFACE ................................................................................................... xiv INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 DANTE ALIGHIERI: A LITERARY AUTHORITY AND HIS CULTURAL CAPITAL CHAPTER I .................................................................................................. 10 ANALYSING DANTE I.1 A SHORT HISTORY OF DANTE STUDIES I.1.1 GENERAL STRANDS OF DANTE CRITICISM IN ITALY I.1.2 “DANTE IS HARD, AND FEW CAN UNDERSTAND HIM”: DANTE’S RECEPTION IN BRITAIN FROM ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM (1785 – 1929) I.2 CURRENT STATE OF RESEARCH: HISTORICAL-AUTHORITATIVE, IDEOLOGICAL-POLITICAL AND VISUAL-INTERMEDIAL DANTE SCHOLARSHIP I.3 COMING TO TERMS WITH DANTE: THE QUEST FOR NEW METHODOLOGIES CHAPTER II ................................................................................................ 28 AESTHETICISING DANTE: THEORETICAL CONCEPTS AND METHODOLOGY II.1 VISUAL RHETORIC AND CULTURAL ICONOGRAPHY II.1.1 ROAMING THE STREETS OF CULTURE: ABY WARBURG’S PATHOS FORMULAE AND THE CONCEPT OF HISTORIOGRAMS II.1.2 ICONOLOGY, STRUCTURALISM AND THE VISUAL TURN II.2 CONNECTING THE VISIBLE WITH THE LEGIBLE II.2.1 IMAGES, ICONS, ICONOTEXTS II.2.2 HISTORICAL INTERTEXTS AND THE ORIGINS OF INTERMEDIALITY II.2.3 PRIMACY OF POETRY: THE LAOCOON DEBATE IN THE 18TH/19TH CENTURY II.2.4 STRUCTURAL INTERTEXTS AND THE LIMITS OF INTERMEDIALITY II.2.5 ASSESSING INTERMEDIALITY viii Table of Contents CHAPTER III ............................................................................................... 57 DANTE’S MENTAL AND VISUAL IMAGES IN THE MANUSCRIPT TRADITION AND BEYOND (1321-1517) III.1 IN SEARCH OF DANTE III.1.1 LIFE AND WORK – BETWEEN AUTHENTIC AUTOREFERENTIALITY AND NARRATIVE SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS III.1.2 TIRADES AND TREATISES: DANTE’S POLITICAL THOUGHT EXPRESSED IN DE MONARCHIA, IL CONVIVIO AND PURGATORIO VI III.1.3 THE MYSTIFICATION OF A MYTH: EARLY BIOGRAPHIES AND DANTE’S HISTORIOGRAMS IN THE 14TH AND IN THE 15TH CENTURIES III.1.4 BETWEEN AUTHORITY AND HAGIOGRAPHY: THE HISTORIOGRAMS OF DANTE IN THE EARLY 15TH CENTURY III.2 EARLY VISUAL IMAGES: FROM PILGRIM TO POET TO PROPHET III.2.1 DANTE’S VISUAL IMAGE IN BOCCACCIO’S TRATTATELLO IN LAUDE DI DANTE III.2.2 AN ALLEGORICAL EVERYMAN: DANTE PERSONAGGIO ON HIS PILGRIMAGE III.2.3 “AND THEN I FELL AS A DEAD BODY FALLS”: MARVELLING, SLEEPING AND FAINTING AS SUPERLATIVES OF HUMAN EXPRESSION IN THE EARLY MANUSCRIPT TRADITION III.2.4 FRAMING THE FLORENTINE: DANTE POETA AND THE ALLEGORY OF TRUTH, WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE III.2.5 PLAUDITS FOR THE POET: SANDRO BOTTICELLI’S SEMINAL VERSIONS OF DANTE III.2.6 SATIRISING THE INTELLECTUAL ICON: LEONARDO DA VINCI’S HEAD OF DANTE CHAPTER IV ............................................................................................. 114 REDISCOVERING DANTE IN BRITAIN IV.1 “TOUCHING THE STONE OF DANTE” – TASTE, TRAVEL AND TRADITION (1719-1850) IV.1.1 THE DANTEAN DISCOURSE IN THE 18TH CENTURY: FRENCH EMPIRICISM, GERMAN AESTHETICISM, AND BRITISH PRAGMATISM IV.1.2 TASTE AND AESTHETCS AS SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL DRIVING FORCES IN BRITAIN: THE COURTIER AND THE GRAND TOUR Depicting Dante in Anglo-Italian Literary and Visual Arts ix IV.2 “THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL ADHESION”: VISUALISATIONS OF DANTE, UGOLINO, AND PAOLO AND FRANCESCA IN 18TH- AND 19TH- CENTURY BRITAIN IV.2.1 SIR JONATHAN RICHARDSON’S TWO DISCOURSES AND THE “COMMUNICATION OF IDEAS”: THE STORY OF COUNT UGOLINO AS HISTORICAL INTERTEXT AND CONTEMPORARY ICONOTEXT IV.2.2 THE INTERMEDIAL PROCESS OF EXTERNALISING TRANSGRESSION: JOSHUA REYNOLD’S UGOLINO AND JOHN FLAXMAN’S PAOLO AND FRANCESCA IV.3 REJUVENATING DANTE: THE HISTORIOGRAM OF THE YOUNG AND PASSIONATE FLORENTINE IV.3.1 “YOUTHFUL MANNERS AND SENTIMENT”: SCHLEGEL, DE STAEL, HAZLITT AND DANTE’S VITA NUOVA IV.3.2 “A HANDSOME YOUNG APOLLO”: THE DISCOVERY OF THE BARGELLO PORTRAIT IV.3.3 THE ALLEGORY OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP: ROSSETTI’S DANTEAN SELF-FASHIONING AND TRANSMEDIAL INTERMEDIALITY CHAPTER V .............................................................................................. 150 AUDIRE VOCEM AUCTORITATIS DANTIS V.1 DANTE AS THE VOICE OF AUTHORITY IN MODERNIST POETRY V.1.1 “ALL AGES ARE CONTEMPORANEOUS”: MODERNIST ARTISTIC CREATION AND THE LITERARY PAST V.1.2 “THE COMFORT AND THE AMAZEMENT OF MY AGE”: T.S. ELIOT’S THREE DANTEAN LESSONS V.1.3 “HIS WAS THE TRUE DANTESQUE VOICE”: THE ALLEGORY OF ETERNAL TRUTH AND POETIC VIGOUR IN T.S. ELIOT’S LITTLE GIDDING CHAPTER VI ............................................................................................. 168 POSTMODERNISING DANTE VI.1 TOM PHILLIPS’ DANTE’S INFERNO VI.1.1 “A POSTMODERN ART OLYMPICS”: DIALOGICITY, TRANSFORMATIONAL INTERMEDIALITY AND TRANSTEXTUAL MOTIVATION IN PHILLIPS’ DANTE’S INFERNO VI.1.2 “OUR SHADE TAKES FORM”: PHILLIPS’ TALKING FOOTNOTES AS INNOVATIVE ICONOTEXTS IN THE UGOLINO CANTO VI.1.3 “OH EZRA, REMEMBER”: SELECTIVITY, STRUCTURALITY AND STYLISTIC SELF-REFERENCE VI.1.4 “A BRIDGE IN TIME AND REFERENCE”: PHILLIPS’ RICH TAPESTRY OF WESTERN ART, THOUGHT AND IDEAS x Table of Contents CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 189 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 193 INDEX ....................................................................................................... 214 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: Dante caught by ‘myth’. [graph] Figure 2: A comparison of Giovanni Boccaccio‘s and Leonardo Bruni’s mental images of Dante. [graph] Figure 3: Detail of a miniature of Dante’s dream and his soul leaving his body. (MS Egerton 943, 14th century, Northern Italy, Padua or Emilia). Reproduced courtesy of British Library. Figure 4: Priamo della Quercia, Dante e Virgilio. (MS Yates Thompson 36, 15th century, Northern Italy). Reproduced courtesy of British Library. Figure 5: Illustration of Purgatory I with a historiated initial ‘P’ of Dante and Vergil. (MS Laurenziano-Tempiano 1, 14th century, Florence). Reproduced courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Institut Florenz. Figure 6: Priamo della Quercia, Le tre fiere. (MS Yates Thompson 36, 15th century, Northern Italy). Reproduced courtesy of British Library. Figure 7: Dante and Virgil and Paolo and Francesca. (MS Holkham misc. 48, 14th century, Northern Italy). Reproduced courtesy of Bodleian Library. Figure 8: Giotto di Bondone, Sogno di Gioacchino (Detail). (1304-1306, Cappella degli Scrovegni, Padova). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Giotto_di_Bondone_- _Joachims_Dream_-_Capella_degli_Scrovegni.jpg Figure 9: Portrait of Dante. (MS Holkham misc. 48, 14th century, Northern Italy). Reproduced courtesy of Bodleian Library. Figure 10: Illustration of the Rossano Gospels: St. Mark (Purpureus Rossanensis). (6th century AD, Archepiscopal Library, Rossano, Calabria /Italy). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Rossano_Gospels. Figure 11: Illustration of Inferno I with a historiated initial ‘N’ of Dante. (MS Laurenziano-Tempiano 1, 14th century, Florence). Reproduced courtesy of Kunsthistorisches Institut Florenz. Figure 12: Andrea di Bonaiuto, Allegory of the Church Militant and Triumphant (Detail). (1363-1365, Cappellone degli Spagnoli, Santa Maria Novella, Firenze). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Way-of-salvation-church- militant-triumphant-andrea-di-bonaiuto-1365. xii List of Illustrations Figure 13: Domenico di Michelino, Dante e il suo poema (Detail). (1465, Santa Maria del Fiore, Firenze). Retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Dante_Alighieri#/media/File: Dante_Domenico_di_Michelino_Duomo_Florence.jpg Figure 14: Nardo di Cione, Volto di Dante (Detail). (1354-1357, Cappella Strozzi, Santa Maria Novella, Firenze). Retrieved from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Capella_Strozzi 4.jpg Figure 15: Giuliano da Maiano and Francione, Dante in the intarsia doors of the Sala de’Gigli. (1478-1480, Palazzo Vecchio, Firenze). Reproduced courtesy of Kunsthistorisches
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