Dante Alighieri, Divine Comedy (MS. Ricc. 1035)
This famous copy of Dante’s Commedia was transcribed by Boccaccio and illustrated by him with seven drawings to depict some passages from Inferno.
Once compared with other drawings by Boccaccio, the illustrations in this manuscript prove him to be as witty and lively in the visual arts as he was in writing. This is not surprising, if one considers the artists’ milieu that he was acquainted with and that he describes in some of his famous short stories.
Also, this manuscript, which was once owned by Bartolomeo Fortini (whose father, Benedetto, succeeded Coluccio Salutati as chancellor of Florence), is further testimony to Boccaccio’s outstanding ability as a Dante scholar.
This digital facsimile has been realized thanks to the support of
Ente Nazionale Giovanni Boccaccio.
