The course aims to provide specific tools for the study and analysis of literary texts of the Italian Middle Ages. Through an in-depth reading of a work, or group of works, the student will acquire an interpretative model based on the interweaving of different "knowledge" - historical-literary, linguistic-philological, doctrinal - particularly suited to grasp the complex physiognomy of the literary text medieval and its peculiarities.
teacher profile teaching materials
The course will be devoted to the relationship between texts, visual arts and images in the earliest two centuries of Italian literature (13th-14th c.). A consistent attention will be paid to some key points of this topic: the connection between mental, literary and real images in poetry; the inner dynamics of rhetorical devices such as ekphrasis and "evidentia"; the relationship between the transmission of texts, their exegesis and illustration; the wide context of literary and iconographic reception. The links between the so-called "Tre corone" Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio with the visual arts will be specifically analysed: the influence of iconographic sources on the invention of Dante's otherworld and the illustrative tradition of his "Comedy"; the relationship between Petrarch, Simone Martini and the development of portrait; the links between the frescoes of the Pisan Camposanto and the project of Boccaccio's "Decameron".
Moreover, students are expected to read:
- Lucia Battaglia Ricci, "Ragionare nel giardino. Boccaccio e i cicli pittorici del 'Trionfo della morte'", Roma: Salerno editrice, 2000 (seconda edizione)
- Lucia Battaglia Ricci, "Dante per immagini. Dalle miniature trecentesche ai giorni nostri", Torino: Einaudi, 2018, introduzione e capp. 1-2
- Lina Bolzoni, "La rete delle immagini. Predicazione in volgare dalle origini a Bernardino da Siena", Torino: Einaudi, 2002, introduzione e capp. I-III
- Marcello Ciccuto, "Petrarca e le arti: l’occhio della mente fra i segni del mondo", in «Quaderns d’Italià», 2006, 203–21 (disponibile online: http://www.raco.cat/index.php/QuadernsItalia/article/view/52993)
- Laura Pasquini, "Iconografie dantesche: dalla luce del mosaico all’immagine profetica", Ravenna: Longo, 2008
- Federica Pich, I poeti davanti al ritratto: da Petrarca a Marino, Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 2010, pp. 7-64
NB: Students who will attend lectures are exempted from reading Ciccuto, "Petrarca e le arti", and Pich, "I poeti davanti al ritratto".
Programme
Word and image in the earliest centuries of Italian literature (13th-14th c.)The course will be devoted to the relationship between texts, visual arts and images in the earliest two centuries of Italian literature (13th-14th c.). A consistent attention will be paid to some key points of this topic: the connection between mental, literary and real images in poetry; the inner dynamics of rhetorical devices such as ekphrasis and "evidentia"; the relationship between the transmission of texts, their exegesis and illustration; the wide context of literary and iconographic reception. The links between the so-called "Tre corone" Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio with the visual arts will be specifically analysed: the influence of iconographic sources on the invention of Dante's otherworld and the illustrative tradition of his "Comedy"; the relationship between Petrarch, Simone Martini and the development of portrait; the links between the frescoes of the Pisan Camposanto and the project of Boccaccio's "Decameron".
Core Documentation
During the course, a dossier of texts and images will be provided and will be made available online on the teacher’s institutional webpage. Students must get a copy of Giovanni Boccaccio, "Decameron": some parts of these text will be read and discussed (I suggest the edition by A. Quondam, M. Fiorilla, G. Alfano, BUR-Rizzoli, 2013).Moreover, students are expected to read:
- Lucia Battaglia Ricci, "Ragionare nel giardino. Boccaccio e i cicli pittorici del 'Trionfo della morte'", Roma: Salerno editrice, 2000 (seconda edizione)
- Lucia Battaglia Ricci, "Dante per immagini. Dalle miniature trecentesche ai giorni nostri", Torino: Einaudi, 2018, introduzione e capp. 1-2
- Lina Bolzoni, "La rete delle immagini. Predicazione in volgare dalle origini a Bernardino da Siena", Torino: Einaudi, 2002, introduzione e capp. I-III
- Marcello Ciccuto, "Petrarca e le arti: l’occhio della mente fra i segni del mondo", in «Quaderns d’Italià», 2006, 203–21 (disponibile online: http://www.raco.cat/index.php/QuadernsItalia/article/view/52993)
- Laura Pasquini, "Iconografie dantesche: dalla luce del mosaico all’immagine profetica", Ravenna: Longo, 2008
- Federica Pich, I poeti davanti al ritratto: da Petrarca a Marino, Lucca: Pacini Fazzi, 2010, pp. 7-64
NB: Students who will attend lectures are exempted from reading Ciccuto, "Petrarca e le arti", and Pich, "I poeti davanti al ritratto".
Reference Bibliography
Supplementary and not compulsory bibliography will be discussed and indicated during lectures. Students, both attending lectures and not, can get in touch with the teacher for in-depth research on single topics.Type of delivery of the course
The course will develop in 36 hours of lectures, which will envisage moments of discussion. Students who will not attend lectures will complete their preparation with a series of readings indicated in the section "Testi adottati".Attendance
Attendance is not compulsory. Students who will not attend lectures are encouraged to get in touch with the teacher.Type of evaluation
Oral exam (about 30 minutes). The knowledge and acquaintance with the topics of the course will be evaluated, along with fluency in the exposition and independent thinking. Students who would like to, could write an essay on a topic, which has to be agreed with the teacher and has to be in line with the programme of the course. This essay will replace part of the oral exam and is not compulsory.