Early 20th Century Fine Chasing Figural Bronze Dante Alighieri Bust. Excellent condition. Original patina. 

Glass stand not included. 

Size: 7 x 7 x 13 in. 

#8384 . 

Dante Alighieri (most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri) was born in 1265 in the Republic of Florence, in what is now Italy. Widely known mononymously as Dante, he became one of the most important Italian poets, writers, and philosophers in history. He took a stand against Church hypocrisy at great peril to his own life, and his poetry about an unrequited love with a childhood friend named Beatrice set the template for much romantic poetry for the rest of the millennium. His “Divine Comedy” (1320), originally called “Comedìa” and later christened “Divina” by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language. Dante is known for establishing the use of the vernacular in literature at a time when most poetry was written in Latin, which was accessible only to educated readers. His “De vulgari eloquentia” (“On Eloquence in the Vernacular”) was one of the first scholarly defenses of the vernacular. His use of the Florentine dialect for works such as “The New Life” (1295) and “Divine Comedy” helped establish the modern-day standardized Italian language. His work set a precedent that important Italian writers would later follow, in turn influencing much of French, German, and British literature, theater, and poetry. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature, both religious and secular. Geoffrey Chaucer, John Milton, and Alfred Tennyson all cited him as one of their prime literary influences, and the first use of the interlocking three-line rhyme scheme, or the terza rima, is attributed to him. He is frequently described as the “father of the Italian language,” and in Italy he is often referred to as il Sommo Poeta (“the Supreme Poet”). Although he died in exile from Florence, condemned by the Pope, his final days were spent in Ravenna, invited there in 1318 by its prince Guido Il da Polenta. When he contracted quartan malaria on a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice, he realized his fate, and made several efforts to preserve his legacy before succumbing to the disease in 1321. His “disciples” Petrarch and Boccaccio made certain to continue these efforts in their own works, and along with him they are referred to as the tre corone (“three crowns”) of Italian literature.