The Epistle XIII to Cangrande della Scala (Italian: Epistola XIII a Cangrande della Scala) is a letter of disputed authenticity sent by Dante Alighieri to his patron, Cangrande I della Scala.[1][2]
| Epistle to Cangrande | |
|---|---|
| Epistola a Cangrande | |
.jpg) Copy of the Epistle to Cangrande | |
| Full title | Epistle XIII to Cangrande della Scala |
| Ascribed to | Dante Alighieri |
| Dedicated to | Cangrande della Scala |
| Language | Latin |
| Date | before 1343 |
| Authenticity | Disputed |
| Genre | Epistle |
| Subject | Meaning of the Divine Comedy |
Date
editThe exact date that the letter was written is unknown. The letter was cited by the Italian copyist Andrea Lancia in 1343 and then by the chronicler Filippo Villani around 1400. Some authors have suggested that Jacopo della Lana cited the letter in the 1320s, but this is disputed.[3]
Content
editThe letter is divided into three parts: A dedication to Cangrande I della Scala, an accessus or introduction, and an exposition of the Divine Comedy.[3]
Authenticity
edit...the paternity of the Epistle has been for some time a political football in Dante studies. It is a talismanic topic, and by revealing one's position with regard to the paternity of the Epistle, one potentially reveals a host of other vested interests and beliefs[4]: 140
The question of whether or not the Epistle is a forgery is controversial among Dante scholars. Scholars such as Henry Ansgar Kelly and Bruno Nardi have argued against its authenticity, whereas scholars such as Francesco Mazzoni, Robert Hollander, and Charles Singleton have argued that the document is authentic.[3][5][4] Kelly specifically contends that Dante wrote the dedication but the rest of the letter was written by a "Pseudo-Dante".[3] The academics Ralph G. Hall and Madison U. Sowell have suggested that American scholars are more likely to accept the Epistle as authentic while British and Italian scholars are more likely to consider it a forgery.[6]: 144 John Ciardi, who wrote a translation of the Divine Comedy, argued that the framework provided by the letter is useful regardless of its authenticity.[7] The scholar Teodolinda Barolini has described the Epistle as a red herring, writing that "frankly, I don't care if the Epistle is Dante's or not, since I think the answers that I seek regarding the [Divine Comedy] are to be found in the poem itself."[4]: 143
In 2019, researchers for the Italian Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione attempted to use machine learning to determine authorship of the Epistle. Their results supported the theory that it was forged, however the authors noted that their study "should not be considered conclusive".[8]: 5
References
edit- ^ Hollander, Robert (1994). Dante's Epistle to Cangrande. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-10476-5.
- ^ Barański, Zygmunt G. (1991). "Comedía. Notes on Dante, the Epistle to Cangrande, and Medieval Comedy". Lectura Dantis (8): 26–55. ISSN 0897-5280.
- ^ a b c d Kelly, Henry Ansgar (18 September 2018). "Epistle to Cangrande Updated". Dante Society. Dante Society of America. Retrieved 10 June 2024.
- ^ a b c Barolini, Teodolinda (1990). "For the Record: The Epistle to Cangrande and Various «American Dantisti»". Lectura Dantis (6): 140–143. ISSN 0897-5280.
- ^ Izbicki, Thomas M. (1 July 1994). "94.07.03, Hollander, Dante's Epistle to Cangrande". The Medieval Review. ISSN 1096-746X.
- ^ Hall, Ralph G.; Sowell, Madison U. (1990). "On Dante and "Cursus": A Brief Response to «for the Record»". Lectura Dantis (6): 143–144. ISSN 0897-5280.
- ^ Alighieri, Dante; Ciardi, John (2009). The Purgatorio. New York: Signet Classics. p. xxii. ISBN 978-0-451-53142-1. OCLC 449946422.
- ^ Corbara, Silvia (2019). "The Epistle to Cangrande through the Lens of Computational Authorship Verification" (PDF). CEUR Workshop Proceedings.