Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Dante Alighieri Battleship

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“Here are photographs of my model of the Italian dreadnought battleship Dante Alighieri. It is built in 1:550 scale. Dante Alighieri is the only battleship that I know of that is named after a poet. Dante Alighieri was the first battleship designed with triple turrets and was allegedly the fastest battleship in the world upon entering into service. As with the other Italian battleships, her career during World War I was uneventful, being limited to the bombardment of Durazzo in October 1918. Unfortunately, her main armament arrangement did not permit accommodation for modernization due to space limitations, so she was scrapped in 1928. The model represents the ship as built and before her 1923 modernization when her forward funnels were raised and she was given a tripod foremast. With her four funnels, she is a very interesting ship.”    –Gregory Shoda, SteelNavy

Contributed by Bernard Barryte

Rachel Kneebone, “The Descent” at the Brooklyn Museum

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“…Even the chef d’oeuvre of the show, “The Descent” (2008), which recalls Rodin’s “Gates of Hell” — which, in turn, was inspired by Dante’s “Inferno” — feels more like a poetic celebration of flesh and the sculptural medium than anything else. Comprising dozens of little figures descending into a cauldron-shaped pit, the sculpture, viewed by stepping up on a narrow wooden platform encircling it, is nearly 11 ½ feet in diameter.” [. . .]    –Martha Schwendener, The New York Times, April 4, 2012

On display at The Brooklyn Museum, January 7 – August 12, 2012.

M. Ward and Dante

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ward-and-dante-new-york-times-article “In a telephone interview during the South by Southwest music festival Mr. Ward described music as a puzzle he’d been working on since his youth in a Los Angeles suburb. He spoke about his desire to balance dark moods and joyous elements in his music, about his love for Dante and Marvin Gaye, and about how delving into pop music history has become vital to his songwriting.” [. . .]    –James C. McKinley Jr., The New York Times (April 1, 2012)

Dante in “Level Up”

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“Fearless and impulsive, Dante is a rebel who always gets into trouble for pulling pranks. Basically, if you need somebody to rush in blinding and hit stuff really hard, Dante’s your guy.”    —Cartoon Network

“Level Up, a Cartoon Network show, is about Wyatt, Lyle, Dante and Angie trying to stop the evil wizard Maldark from escaping the MMO game known as Conqueror of All Worlds.”

Contributed by Gianluca P., 3rd Grade

“Alchemists Needed for Mets’ Golden Anniversary”

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mets-logo “Two years ago, I quoted Dante in warning Met fans to expect nothing. (“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”) That still works in 2012. But Mets fans need to take stock of the hope and humor that course underground, like a long-forgotten creek under a municipal dump.” [. . .]    –George Vecsey, The New York Times, March 31, 2012

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How to Cite

Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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