The Cambridge Companion to Dante's ‘Commedia', 2018
avril 1960. Un faisceau d'indices démontre en effet que les îlots revendiqués par les gouvern... more avril 1960. Un faisceau d'indices démontre en effet que les îlots revendiqués par les gouvernements successifs de Madagascar à partir de 1972 ont été des territoires étatiques malgaches et plus précisément des dépendances du Royaume souverain de Madagascar jusqu'à son annexion par la France, le 6 août 1896. Il apparaît également qu'ils ont été, par la suite, des dépendances administratives de la Grande Ile jusqu'à l'entrée en vigueur du décret du 1 er avril 1960. En réalisant le démembrement du territoire national malgache sans consultation préalable du peuple de Madagascar ou de ses représentants élus et au mépris du principe de l'intangibilité des frontières coloniales, le décret du 1 er avril 1960 déroge aux principes généraux de la succession d'États. On peut de surcroît mettre en doute la thèse française selon laquelle Madagascar aurait acquiescé au démembrement de son territoire. Cette amputation lui a plutôt été imposée par la Puissance administran...
Simon Gilson's new volume provides the first in-depth account of the critical and editorial r... more Simon Gilson's new volume provides the first in-depth account of the critical and editorial reception in Renaissance Italy, particularly Florence, Venice and Padua, of the work of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). Gilson investigates a range of textual frameworks and related contexts that influenced the way in which Dante's work was produced and circulated, from editing and translation to commentaries, criticism and public lectures. In so doing he modifies the received notion that Dante and his work were eclipsed during the Renaissance. Central themes of investigation include the contestation of Dante's authority as a 'classic' writer and the various forms of attack and defence employed by his detractors and partisans. The book pays close attention not only to the Divine Comedy but also to the Convivio and other of Dante's writings, and explores the ways in which the reception of these works was affected by contemporary developments in philology, literary theory, philosophy, theology, science and printing.
This chapter provides an overview and assessment of Dante’s use of medieval visual theories in hi... more This chapter provides an overview and assessment of Dante’s use of medieval visual theories in his writings. It first surveys his use of the medieval Aristotelian tradition of visual theory in the Convivio, and discusses his reliance on other models of vision in the Vita nova and Rime, including those found both in medical writings and in the works of other poets. The chapter then discusses how, in the Commedia, Dante incorporates a variety of other late medieval discourses about vision into his narrative. Dante does this—it is argued—in carefully structured and stratified ways that often reveal his characteristic syncretism. The poet continues to use neo-Aristotelian theory but also draws upon a rich body of material on seeing found in medieval theology, contemplation, and Biblical exegesis. Particular attention is paid to how these multiple traditions inform the presentation of Dante-character’s own visual experiences throughout the poem.
... Contributi e proposte (No.72). Edizione dell'Orso, Alessandria, pp. 33-59. ISBN 97888627... more ... Contributi e proposte (No.72). Edizione dell'Orso, Alessandria, pp. 33-59. ISBN 9788862741347. ... Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Travel in art — Congresses. Series Name: Contributi e proposte. Publisher: Edizione dell'Orso. Place of Publication: Alessandria. ...
The Cambridge Companion to Dante's ‘Commedia', 2018
avril 1960. Un faisceau d'indices démontre en effet que les îlots revendiqués par les gouvern... more avril 1960. Un faisceau d'indices démontre en effet que les îlots revendiqués par les gouvernements successifs de Madagascar à partir de 1972 ont été des territoires étatiques malgaches et plus précisément des dépendances du Royaume souverain de Madagascar jusqu'à son annexion par la France, le 6 août 1896. Il apparaît également qu'ils ont été, par la suite, des dépendances administratives de la Grande Ile jusqu'à l'entrée en vigueur du décret du 1 er avril 1960. En réalisant le démembrement du territoire national malgache sans consultation préalable du peuple de Madagascar ou de ses représentants élus et au mépris du principe de l'intangibilité des frontières coloniales, le décret du 1 er avril 1960 déroge aux principes généraux de la succession d'États. On peut de surcroît mettre en doute la thèse française selon laquelle Madagascar aurait acquiescé au démembrement de son territoire. Cette amputation lui a plutôt été imposée par la Puissance administran...
Simon Gilson's new volume provides the first in-depth account of the critical and editorial r... more Simon Gilson's new volume provides the first in-depth account of the critical and editorial reception in Renaissance Italy, particularly Florence, Venice and Padua, of the work of Dante Alighieri (1265–1321). Gilson investigates a range of textual frameworks and related contexts that influenced the way in which Dante's work was produced and circulated, from editing and translation to commentaries, criticism and public lectures. In so doing he modifies the received notion that Dante and his work were eclipsed during the Renaissance. Central themes of investigation include the contestation of Dante's authority as a 'classic' writer and the various forms of attack and defence employed by his detractors and partisans. The book pays close attention not only to the Divine Comedy but also to the Convivio and other of Dante's writings, and explores the ways in which the reception of these works was affected by contemporary developments in philology, literary theory, philosophy, theology, science and printing.
This chapter provides an overview and assessment of Dante’s use of medieval visual theories in hi... more This chapter provides an overview and assessment of Dante’s use of medieval visual theories in his writings. It first surveys his use of the medieval Aristotelian tradition of visual theory in the Convivio, and discusses his reliance on other models of vision in the Vita nova and Rime, including those found both in medical writings and in the works of other poets. The chapter then discusses how, in the Commedia, Dante incorporates a variety of other late medieval discourses about vision into his narrative. Dante does this—it is argued—in carefully structured and stratified ways that often reveal his characteristic syncretism. The poet continues to use neo-Aristotelian theory but also draws upon a rich body of material on seeing found in medieval theology, contemplation, and Biblical exegesis. Particular attention is paid to how these multiple traditions inform the presentation of Dante-character’s own visual experiences throughout the poem.
... Contributi e proposte (No.72). Edizione dell'Orso, Alessandria, pp. 33-59. ISBN 97888627... more ... Contributi e proposte (No.72). Edizione dell'Orso, Alessandria, pp. 33-59. ISBN 9788862741347. ... Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Travel in art — Congresses. Series Name: Contributi e proposte. Publisher: Edizione dell'Orso. Place of Publication: Alessandria. ...
This chapter considers Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment (1541) in the light of evangeli... more This chapter considers Michelangelo’s fresco of the Last Judgment (1541) in the light of evangelical, reformist, proto-Protestant belief in the second quarter of sixteenth-century Italy, aiming to interrogate the fresco’s more innovative and ‘scandalous’ imagery. It uses theological and literary analysis as well as Michelangelo’s own rime spirituali to examine how such proto-Protestantism could be embedded within his fresco, in particular through his use of the nude and also through allusions to Augustinianism and even the doctrine of justification by faith. The essay also explores likely conduits for such beliefs by examining Michelangelo’s relations with the Florentine humanist Antonio Brucioli, and - most of all - with Vittoria Colonna, the poet who had fashioned Petrarchan verse into a privileged means for diffusing the renewed evangelical spirituality.
Le lecturae del ciclo autunnale 2020 della Lectura Dantis Bononiensis si terranno in modalità a d... more Le lecturae del ciclo autunnale 2020 della Lectura Dantis Bononiensis si terranno in modalità a distanza sulla piattaforma Teams. Lecturae dei canti 22-25 del Paradiso. Interventi di Giuseppe Ledda, Simon Gilson, Pantaleo Palmieri, Juan Varela-Portas de Orduña.
Since antiquity, folly, nudity, and poetry have been strictly associated with truth, goodness, and divine ecstasy. The concept of poetic creation as a form of divine ecstasy, or furor, is at the heart of Plato’s Phaedrus, where poetic manìa (madness) is allocated the status of divine madness, along with its prophetic, mystic and amorous counterparts, with the latter, the madness of love, enjoying the highest status among all four. Throughout the pre-modern era, scholars committed to the study of the writings of Plato and Aristotle, alongside Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna, have all focused on the link between genius and folly, madness, and melancholy. From a Christian perspective, even though the Middle Ages had placed madness or folly in its hierarchy of vices, the most exemplary figure in early modern Italy who had acted foolishly and made use of nudity for Christ’s sake is Saint Francis of Assisi, also known as God’s Fool. Nearly three centuries after Saint Francis’s evangelical approach to embracing “the nakedness and shame of the Passion,” Desiderius Erasmus, echoing passages in Saint Paul, gave voice to a sublime celebration of folly as the mask Christ himself used to convey his spiritual message, as well as asserting that “only fools have a licence to declare the truth without offence”. With these considerations in mind, the twelve chapters in this volume aim to present original research perspectives, from Dante to Leopardi, exploring how nudity and folly have been drawn upon to consider the ambiguity implicit in the notion of truth when used to address historical, philosophical, political, religious, scientific and social discourses that are still very much relevant in our modern and contemporary world.
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Papers by Simon Gilson
Lecturae dei canti 22-25 del Paradiso.
Interventi di Giuseppe Ledda, Simon Gilson, Pantaleo Palmieri, Juan Varela-Portas de Orduña.
Since antiquity, folly, nudity, and poetry have been strictly associated with truth, goodness, and divine ecstasy. The concept of poetic creation as a form of divine ecstasy, or furor, is at the heart of Plato’s Phaedrus, where poetic manìa (madness) is allocated the status of divine madness, along with its prophetic, mystic and amorous counterparts, with the latter, the madness of love, enjoying the highest status among all four. Throughout the pre-modern era, scholars committed to the study of the writings of Plato and Aristotle, alongside Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna, have all focused on the link between genius and folly, madness, and melancholy. From a Christian perspective, even though the Middle Ages had placed madness or folly in its hierarchy of vices, the most exemplary figure in early modern Italy who had acted foolishly and made use of nudity for Christ’s sake is Saint Francis of Assisi, also known as God’s Fool. Nearly three centuries after Saint Francis’s evangelical approach to embracing “the nakedness and shame of the Passion,” Desiderius Erasmus, echoing passages in Saint Paul, gave voice to a sublime celebration of folly as the mask Christ himself used to convey his spiritual message, as well as asserting that “only fools have a licence to declare the truth without offence”. With these considerations in mind, the twelve chapters in this volume aim to present original research perspectives, from Dante to Leopardi, exploring how nudity and folly have been drawn upon to consider the ambiguity implicit in the notion of truth when used to address historical, philosophical, political, religious, scientific and social discourses that are still very much relevant in our modern and contemporary world.