Alberto De Simoni (Classics), “Tradition in Its Making: the Example of Benvenuto Da Imola”
Thursday, February 11
2:30-3:30
160 Pugh Hall
Some 50 years after Dante’s death, Benvenuto is already the 14th commentator of the Divine Comedy. Benvenuto exhibits at least some familiarity with the work of his predecessors. Although he almost always neglects to mention his predecessors by name, a cautious comparison of the little less than 250 references with correspondent passages of previous commentaries allows us to identify a consistent group of them. I will offer an interpretation of the relationship Benvenuto establishes with some of his predecessors, be it of reverence or of clear contraposition. Benvenuto shows a very mature awareness in choosing whom to reference, and about which passages of the poem. At the dawn of Humanism, the process of tradition in its making corrects the common misconception of thinking that what comes before a great era is somehow a foretaste, or an anticipation of it. Benvenuto’s sensitivity, often described as ‘early humanist’, argues against this. His was the development of a highly revered and critically considered tradition, in the wake of which his commentary must be placed.