Theologus Dantes

The contributions collected in these Acts offer a varied and articulate representation of the relations between Dante Alighieri’s work and late-medieval theological culture, observed in some of its fundamental aspects and with particular attention to the ancient exegesis of the Commedia. The topics covered cover a broad spectrum of issues: the presence of heresy in the poem; the presumed heterodoxy of Dante himself; the references to the Cross and the Passion, examined in the light of the theological doctrines and devotional practices of the time; the influence exerted by the so-called ‘affective mysticism’ on Dante's poetological reflection; the problem of the creation and resurrection of bodies; the connection between theology and the Empyrean sky proposed in the Convivio; the arduous theme of the prophetic vision, investigated starting from the Epistle to Cangrande. The last two contributions are dedicated to as yet little-known episodes in the reception of Dante’s poem: the Anonymous Theologian’s comments on Paradise and Dante’s presence in the 15th-century sermons of Gabriele Barletta and Paolo Attavanti.