anchequandopiove: Dante’s Sepulchrum in Ravenna (Italy).I live in the countryside near Ravenna, so I
anchequandopiove: Dante’s Sepulchrum in Ravenna (Italy).I live in the countryside near Ravenna, so I jumped on the bus and went to the city to take some pictures for Dante Week. In fact, his actual tomb is here, he was buried in Ravenna, and not in Florence. I chose to write about his exile, his last days, why he’s buried here, and… What happened after that. The premises – In Dante’s days, the city of Florence was divided into two factions: Ghibellines and Guelphs – Dante being a Guelph. Those two groups fought eachother to bloodsheds and death. The Ghibellines were defeated, but soon after that the internal fights amongst the Guelphs intensified, until they split into two factions: Black Guelphs and White Guelphs. Dante was a White Guelph. During this conflict, which literally tore the city apart, Dante himself, as a politician, was forced to exile one of his most beloved friends – the poet Guido Cavalcanti – for the sake of preserving the peace in the city. His efforts were vain, though. The conflict went on and eventually the White Guelphs were defeated. This happened when Dante was on his way back from a diplomatic mission to ensure peace: he was betrayed. The poet was sentenced to perpetual exile (he counldn’t even go back to take some money or to say goodbye to his family). If he ever returned to Florence, he would be burned at the stake. In 1315, Florence was forced by the military officer in charge of the city to grant an amnesty to those in exile, including Dante. But for this, Florence required public penance in addition to a heavy fine. Dante refused: he’d rather be exiled than sell his honour. He took part in several attempts by the White Guelphs to regain power, but these failed due to treachery. Later on, his death sentence was even extended to his sons. He still hoped later in life that he might be invited back to Florence on honorable terms, but in Paradiso (XXV, 1–9) he addresses to this chance as if he had already accepted its impossibility. In fact, it never happened. A party of one: Dante on exile – Bitter at the treatment he received from his enemies, Dante also grew disgusted with the infighting and ineffectiveness of his erstwhile allies and vowed to become a party of one - to stand by and for himself only. To Dante, exile was nearly a form of death as it deprived him of his very identity – as a man of honour, as a Florentine, as a well known literate, and as the politician who sacrificed everything for the sake of his city. He addresses the pain of exile in Paradiso, XVII (55-60), where Cacciaguida, Dante’s great-great-grandfather, praises “Florence of the old days” against the corrupted city of Dante’s days, and eventually “predicts” his grandson’s future (remember that the Commedia is ideally set in 1300, that is before all those events occurred). The exile also forced Dante to serve as a diplomat for the lords who hosted him – an occupation he much despised, for the ideal of a literate he conceived was that of a man who could live only by his poetry and art (note that he could have led that ideal life, but was first forced by his honour to take a stand in Florence’s battles, and now – on exile – he wasn’t free anymore).Dante’s last years – After 17 years of wandering, Prince Guido Novello da Polenta invited him to Ravenna in 1318. He died three years later, in 1321 (at the age of 56), while returning to Ravenna from a diplomatic mission to Venice, possibly of malaria contracted there. Dante finished the Paradiso in Ravenna. According to a legend, the last chapters of the Commedia (where God appears) was missing when he died and it would be his son who, only years after, found the papers hidden in a cranny in the wall of their house. In all likelihood, this story is just a myth, though.Dante was buried in Ravenna at the Church of San Pietro Maggiore (now called San Francesco). Bernardo Bembo, praetor for Venice, erected a tomb for him in 1483.But it wasn’t over yet! – Later in history, Florence realized that its exiled citizen was the greatest Italian poet and demanded that Ravenna returned his remains. In 1519, complying with Michelangelo’s request, Pope Leo X ordered to transfer Dante’s remains to Florence. The urn actually reached Florence, but it was empty. It appears that some clever Franciscans in Ravenna pierced a hole in the tomb from the adjacent church, took away the remains, hid them in a wooden box, and buried them secretly in the Franciscan monastery (which is located in a nearby town). When Napoleon secularized the church property in 1810, the Franciscans had to leave the monastery, but before doing so they hid the box in the wall under the Braccioforte portico which is situated right next to Dante’s tomb in Ravenna. Meanwhile, a tomb was built for Dante in Florence in the basilica of Santa Croce in 1829. That monument has been empty ever since. The box was discovered only centuries later, in 1865, when a lucky bricklayer dug it up during some contruction works. They were able to recognise the missing urn thanks to a written line on the box, a simple “Dantis Ossae“ ("Dante’s Bones” in latin). The urn was then located back in the sepulcrum, where it still lays, visited by many who come every year to pay him homage.The tomb – The monument we can see nowadays is not medieval at all. It was built in the quite simple neo-classical style by Camillo Morigia in 1780. Inside lays the urn with an epitaph composed in latin by Bernardo Canaccio in 1327. It recites:Visiting the skies and the waters of Phlegeton I sang of them, and of the Monarchy’s rights, as long as I was alive. Since my soul flied to a better place, and even more blessed it reached its Creator among the stars, (I) Dante, lay in here, exiled from my motherland Florence, mother of little love.Over the urn, you can see a bás-relief made by the well-known sculptor Pietro Lombardo in 1483. Here, Dante is shown as deep in thoughts and at work. He is reading a book, while his right hand lays on another open book. Another book and an inkpot can be seen in front of his writing desk. Actually, the bás-relief was earlier a part of his funerary monument in the Basilica of San Francesco. In the court near the tomb there is a small grave mound all covered with ever green ivy. That small monument indicates the place where Dante’s ashes were kept during World War II to keep them safe from the bombings. (Here are all the pictures I took.)The more you know – Here in Ravenna Dante-themed events, eg. lectures, theatrical plays and readings of his masterpieces, are periodically held to celebrate the Poet.Every year a delegation from Florence brings a bottle of oil to light the lamp inside the tomb (the bright light also represents Dante’s genius).In June 2008, the city council of Florence finally passed a motion rescinding Dante’s exile and death sentence.[Sources: x, x, x, and personal knowledge/experience. Mind that this piece is emotionally biased because I can’t hold my feelings while writing about Dante’s exile. Sorry not sorry. English is not my mother language, so feel free to correct any mistake you find!] -- source link
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