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Dante’s Bones

How a Poet Invented Italy
By Guy P. Raffa
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Dante’s Bones by Guy P. Raffa explores the fascinating journey of Dante Alighieri’s remains through history. This book delves into how his bones have been cherished, hidden, and even contested, unveiling their significant role in shaping Dante’s legacy. It beautifully weaves together biography, history, and cultural analysis to reveal the lasting impact of this literary icon.
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Format: Hardback
$7599
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're fascinated by historical tales intertwining art, religion, and politics. This engaging biography unveils the intriguing journey of Dante's remains across centuries, offering a captivating glimpse into how his legacy shaped cultural and national identity. Ideal for readers interested in history, literary heritage, and the enduring impact of influential figures.

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Like a saint’s relics, Dante’s bones have been stolen, exhumed, and worshiped. Guy Raffa narrates the Florentine poet’s hereafter—the physical afterlife of the writer who vividly imagined the spiritual afterlife. In the story of the bones lies the tale of Dante’s evolution from Renaissance to Italian to nationalist hero, and finally global icon.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

A richly detailed graveyard history of the Florentine poet whose dead body shaped Italy from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the Risorgimento, World War I, and Mussolini's fascist dictatorship.

Dante, whose Divine Comedy gave the world its most vividly imagined story of the afterlife, endured an extraordinary afterlife of his own. Exiled in death as in life, the Florentine poet has hardly rested in peace over the centuries.

Like a saint's relics, his bones have been stolen, recovered, reburied, exhumed, examined, and, above all, worshiped. Actors in this graveyard history range from Lorenzo de' Medici, Michelangelo, and Pope Leo X to the Franciscan friar who hid the bones, the stone mason who accidentally discovered them, and the opportunistic sculptor who accomplished what princes, popes, and politicians could not: delivering to Florence a precious relic of the native son it had banished.

In Dante's Bones, Guy Raffa narrates for the first time the complete course of the poet's hereafter, from his death and burial in Ravenna in 1321 to a computer-generated reconstruction of his face in 2006. Dante's posthumous adventures are inextricably tied to major historical events in Italy and its relationship to the wider world.

Dante grew in stature as the contested portion of his body diminished in size from skeleton to bones, fragments, and finally dust: During the Renaissance, a political and literary hero in Florence; in the nineteenth century, the ancestral father and prophet of Italy; a nationalist symbol under fascism and amid two world wars; and finally the global icon we know today.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Dante’s Bones by Guy P. Raffa is lauded as a captivating exploration of Dante Alighieri's enduring influence and the intertwined history of his remains with Italy’s political and cultural evolution. Reviewers praise Raffa's ability to blend historical detail with engaging narrative, highlighting how his comprehensive research sheds light on the significance of Dante’s physical and symbolic afterlife. The book is acclaimed for its intriguing portrayal of Italian nationalism and historical events, described as both scholarly and accessible, making it highly recommended for those interested in Dante, Italian history, or literary heritage.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780674980839

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 12 May 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Harvard University Press

Illustration: 46 photos

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 32.0mm

Width: 156.0mm

Height: 235.0mm

Weight: 735g

Pages: 384

Collections

Biography & Memoir European History Guy P. Raffa History & Archaeology History & Military Musicians, Movie Stars & Creative Biographies Non-Fiction Political Biographies

About the Author

Guy P. Raffa is Associate Professor of Italian Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His previous books include The Complete Danteworlds: A Reader’s Guide to the Divine Comedy and Divine Dialectic: Dante’s Incarnational Poetry. His work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities and highlighted in the New Yorker and Los Angeles Times. His website is www.guyraffa.com.

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