Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Sylvain Reynard, Gabriel’s Inferno (2012)

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“Enigmatic and sexy, Professor Gabriel Emerson is a well-respected Dante specialist by day, but by night he devotes himself to an uninhibited life of pleasure. He uses his notorious good looks and sophisticated charm to gratify his every whim, but is secretly tortured by his dark past and consumed by the profound belief that he is beyond all hope of redemption.

“When the sweet and innocent Julia Mitchell enrolls as his graduate student, his attraction and mysterious connection to her not only jeopardizes his career, but sends him on a journey in which his past and his present collide.

“An intriguing and sinful exploration of seduction, forbidden love, and redemption, Gabriel’s Inferno is a captivating and wildly passionate tale of one man’s escape from his own personal hell as he tries to earn the impossible—forgiveness and love.”   —Penguin Random House

The 2012 novel, set in Toronto, was adapted into a three-part series of films starring Giulio Berruti and Melanie Zanetti and directed by Tosca Musk. It was produced and released by Musk’s company Passionflix in 2020. The image above comes from the Amazon Prime Video page for the film. Gabriel’s Rapture (Part Two) and Gabriel’s Redemption (Part Three) are scheduled for release in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

Contributed by Margaret Goodspeed

Donna Distefano’s “The Love That Moves the Sun and the Other Stars” Ring

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“I created a one-of-a-kind ring inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto 33, The Final Vision. I’ve studied The Divine Comedy in both English and Italian and have always loved the way the poem combines so many seemingly disparate elements: mythology, realism, love, judgment, geometry, and astronomy to name a few. In Canto 33, Dante faces God and sees ‘the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.’ It is the moment when his life on earth intersects with his life outside of this earth.”   –Donna Distefano

The ring, which features pieces of actual meteorite, was featured in the exhibit “Out of this World: Jewelry in the Space Age” at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia (November 7, 2020 – October 24, 2021). In Style magazine did a piece on it, too (see image below).

See also our previous post on Distefano’s “Elixir of Love” ring.

Contributed by Donna Distefano

Skinny Puppy, “Dig It” (1986)

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Canadian industrial rock pioneers Skinny Puppy released the single “Dig It,” from their album Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse (Nettwerk Records), in 1986. The cover art for the single features Gustave Doré’s illustration of Farinata degli Uberti rising from his tomb among the heretics of the sixth circle (canto 10).

Read an interview with graphic designer Steven R. Gilmore, who designed the single’s cover art, here.

Watch the official music video for Skinny Puppy’s “Dig It” on YouTube.

Contributed by Alexa Kellenberger (Florida State University ’22)

“The Wines of Dante’s Inferno”

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“We, the Ancient Wine Guys (Dr. Dana DePietro, Dr. Jeff Pearson, Ti Ngo, and Ryan Wihera), are thrilled to be collaborating once again with renowned winemaker and chef Pietro Buttitta of Prima Materia Winery to present the latest in our ongoing series of wine lectures and S.H.A.R.E. fundraisers: The Wines of Dante’s Inferno. In a unique retelling of this classic and foundational text, we follow Dante Alighieri and his guide, Publius Vergilius Maro (Vergil), as they journey through the Underworld and meet a litany of unfortunate souls condemned there to atone for their sins. The evening will feature nine unique and delicious wines (one for each level of hell!) inspired by Dante’s text and world, along with three full courses of food pairings created and professionally prepared by Pietro. We hope you can join us for this special summer evening of literary, oenological, and culinary exploration!”   —S.H.A.R.E. Ticketing Page

The sold-out event will be held on July 30, 2021, at the Prima Materia Winery (Oakland, CA). All proceeds benefit the Society for Humanitarian Archaeological Research and Exploration (S.H.A.R.E.), a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that uses archaeology as a tool to promote peace and dialogue in Israel/Palestine.

Contributed by Rachel Duke (Florida State University)

Martha Beck, The Way of Integrity (2021)

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“In The Way of Integrity, Beck presents a four-stage process that anyone can use to find integrity, and with it, a sense of purpose, emotional healing, and a life free of mental suffering. Much of what plagues us—people pleasing, staying in stale relationships, negative habits—all point to what happens when we are out of touch with what truly makes us feel whole.

“Inspired by The Divine Comedy, Beck uses Dante’s classic hero’s journey as a framework to break down the process of attaining personal integrity into small, manageable steps. She shows how to read our internal signals that lead us towards our true path, and to recognize what we actually yearn for versus what our culture sells us.

“With techniques tested on hundreds of her clients, Beck brings her expertise as a social scientist, life coach and human being to help readers to uncover what integrity looks like in their own lives. She takes us on a spiritual adventure that not only will change the direction of our lives, but bring us to a place of genuine happiness.”   —marthabeck.com

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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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