Literary Italy

This episode is not exactly a sonnet, but today Anne and Jim have fun / suffer the passion of reading Francesco Petrarca, more commonly known as Petrarch in the English-speaking world. Also, they pine to see Arezzo again (or Avignon for the first time!). So much longing, such intensity of feeling. Plus, memories of Arqua Petrarca and Padua. Who's buried in Petrarch's tomb (trick question!)? And what's up with the cat mummy?

Referred to sometimes as the father of humanism and the Renaissance, Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch in English) is best known for his lyric poetry, which established a model in Europe for centuries. Petrarch was born in the city of Arezzo, about an hour southeast of Florence, where his father had fled after, like Dante, he was exiled from the city of Florence. Petrarch was a prolific traveler, and spent much of his adult life in many of the major courts in both Italy and France. This may have contributed to his vision of Italy as a cohesive political entity, rather than a fragmented collection of warring factions, as it had been for centuries. A renowned scholar and advocated for a study of the classics, Petrarch is best known for his book of poems, the Canzoniere, or Rime Sparse (Scattered Rhymes), a collection of 366 poems, most of which are love poems dedicated to Laura, his beloved.

Petrarch spent the latter part of his life in a small town called Arquà (now called Arquà Petrarca in the poet’s honor), about a half-hour southwest of the city of Padua. Literary tourism to Arquà Petrarca has existed for centuries, one of the earliest examples of a museum dedicated to a writer. Here you can visit Petrarch’s final home and his tomb. Unlike Dante’s tomb in Florence, the tomb in Arquà does indeed hold his body, however when it was exhumed in 2003 in anticipation of the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the poet’s birth, it was discovered that skull contained inside was not Petrarch’s at all, but that of an unknown woman. Presumably at some point in history Petrarch’s skull, along with several other bone fragments, was stolen, probably to be sold. The museum also includes the mummified remains of a cat, reputed to be Petrarch’s favorite pet, with a Latin inscription that proclaims: “The Etruscan poet burned with twin loves, I am the greater fire, Laura was the second.” Although there is no evidence the cat belonged to Petrarch at all, it makes a fun diversion, and has led tourists to this spot since the 16th century.

A writer from the fourteenth century might not seem relevant, but Boccaccio has a lot to say about how to while away the hours in epidemic lockdown and how to make yourself look good in job interviews.

While Dante has been well-known to non-Italian audiences for centuries, Giovanni Boccaccio has enjoyed a new popularity thanks to the setting of his Decameron during the 1348 plague. With the Black Death as a background, the Decameron consists of one hundred tales told by ten Florentine noblemen and women who have fled the city for ten days in order to find respite and peace in the Tuscan hillsides. Although many of the stories take place in Florence, there are also many others that taken place in various small towns and further cities.

Boccaccio himself was probably born in the small town of Certaldo, located south of the cit of Florence, where you can today visit his tomb. Several towns have claimed to be the location of the villas where the Brigata tell the one hundred tales, but the town of Fiesole, just north of Florence, deserves a visit regardless. You may also find less expensive accommodations around Fiesole, as well as cooler air during the summer months, and still have access to the city center by bus or car (park at the underground car park in Piazza della Libertà).

You can find the Decameron as well as history and commentary at Brown University's Decameron Web.

Anne reads (and re-reads) her favorite book as we head to the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri's death. We also drink Vin Santo and walk through Florence.

Dante’s most famous work, the Divine Comedy, traces the salvific journey of the character Dante, led by the love of his life, the saintly Beatrice, through Hell, Purgatory, and finally Paradise. Referring to himself as “a Florentine by birth, not by character,” Dante wrote the poem while in permanent exile from the city, and while Florence certainly receives the greatest attention in his poem, Dante also includes stories and places from around the peninsula, encountered, perhaps, during his travels. You can find more on Dante at the Princeton Dante Project, Columbia's Digital Dante, and UT Austin’s DanteWorlds.

​And in Italy, you can trace a route from Dante’s birthplace to his tomb, with many sites in between. Begin at the Casa di Dante in Florence (a reconstruction built near the site of his birth), then walk down the street to Dante’s family church, Santa Margherita de’ Cerchi. There you will find a small shrine dedicated to Beatrice where the lovelorn leave notes and requests for aid, much as they do at Juliet’s balcony in Verona. Finally, head over to the Franciscan church of Santa Croce, final resting place of some of the most famous Italians (Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo to name just a few), and look for Dante’s statue outside and his tomb inside. The tomb stands empty, however, as Dante was actually buried in Ravenna, where he lived during the last few years of his life, and the city is determined to hold onto his remains. You can even take the “Cammino di Dante,” a 400 kilometer hiking trail that goes from Ravenna to Florence and back again, with suggested stops in several small towns either mentioned in the Comedy, or else visited by the poet himself.

Anne and Jim welcome you to Literary Italy, a joyous romp through the books and the landscape of the bel paese. Join us as we share our love of the literature, the people, the land, and the experience that is Italy.