Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

Graffiti Portrait of Dante in Naples

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This graffito, which is located in Naples, represents a stylized representation of Dante Alighieri. At the top left corner of the work, the phrase “fatti non fumo” (facts not smoke) is included — this could relate to the famous line “fatti non foste a viver come bruti, / ma per seguir virtute e canoscenza” (Inf. 26.119-120: “you were not made to live your lives as brutes, / but to be followers of worth and knowledge”), which is spoken by Ulisse in the Eighth Circle of Hell.     — ALDAM, Dante Graffiti, Via dei Tribunali, Napoli.

“Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, and Gerard Butler To Lead Julian Schnabel’s In The Hand Of Dante“

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“Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa and Gerard Butler are set to star in crime thriller In the Hand of Dante, with Oscar nominee Julian Schnabel directing and Martin Scorsese among the executive producers. The film is in production in Italy and recently landed an Interim Agreement from SAG-AFTRA allowing it to film during the actors strike.

“Based on the novel by Nick Tosches, it follows the story of the original manuscript for The Divine Comedy emerging in the clutches of a black-market smuggling ring in the dangerous underbelly of New York City, and weary scholar Nick is called by the mob to authenticate it.”    — Justin Kroll, “Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa & Gerard Butler To Lead Julian Schnabel’s In The Hand Of Dante“, Deadline, October 16, 2023

See here for more on Tosches’s 2002 novel, and here for info about a 2008 attempt at optioning the film, which was expected to star Johnny Depp (who also voiced the audiobook version of the novel).

“Why Do Fascists Love Dante?”

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“Italy’s far right has misguidedly claimed the medieval poet as one of its own for more than a century.

“The nightmarish visions of Dante Alighieri, with their many circles of hell, ringed in blood and fire, would seem perhaps a natural draw for politicians who traffic in the rhetoric of us versus them, good versus evil. But this doesn’t fully explain why the poet—who, after all, lived and wrote 700 years ago—finds himself quoted and adored like a medieval poster boy by Italy’s newly resurgent extreme right.

[. . .]

“The newly appointed Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano who, like Meloni, once belonged to a now-defunct neofascist party, said in a recent interview that he viewed Dante as ‘the founder of right-wing thought in our country.’”   —Anna Momigliano, “Why Do Fascists Love Dante?,” The Atlantic, February 10, 2023 (retrieved December 28, 2023)

Read more at The Atlantic.

Magdalen Nabb, Vita Nuova (A Florentine Mystery)

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“Marshal Guarnaccia’s sense of malaise sets in as Florence closes for the summer holiday. But outside the quiet city, a wealthy young woman is shot to death in her parents’ villa. A single mother pursuing her doctorate seems an unlikely target for slaughter, but perhaps the marshal can parse the truth from her unusual family.

“The fourteenth and final Florentine mystery featuring Marshal Guarnaccia”   —Magdalen Nabb, Vita Nuova (A Florentine Mystery), Amazon, January 1, 2008 (retrieved December 15, 2023)

“A final reminder of why [Nabb] is irreplaceable among English speaking novelists who write mysteries with Italian locales. Like the 13 previous novels in this series set in Florence and featuring Marshal Guarnaccia, Vita Nuova reflects the sensibility of someone who sees much, speaks softly and takes pity on strangers.”   —Marilyn Stasio, “Italian Blood,” The New York Times, June 8, 2008 (retrieved December 15, 2023)

“Pramac to Race Split The Divine Comedy Livery at Mugello”

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“Ducati’s satellite MotoGP team Pramac will run a special livery in the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, with the colour scheme paying tribute to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy.

“The team’s riders Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin will both run a two-sided paint scheme, with one side referencing Inferno – the first part of the Divine Comedy – and the second themed after Paradiso – the third and final part.

“Inscribed on the Inferno part is the famous ‘abandon all hope ye who enter here,’ while the other side features another line from Dante’s poem, translating to ‘the love that moves the sun and the other stars.’”   —Valentin Khorounzhiy, Simon Patterson, “Pramac to Race Split The Divine Comedy Livery at Mugello,” The Race, June 8, 2023 (retrieved December 15, 2023)

Contributed by Max Matukhin

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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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