38-499: Portinari may refer to: Beatrice Portinari (1266–1290), muse of Dante Candido Portinari (1903–1962), Brazilian painter Giovanni Portinari ( fl. 1508-1572), Anglo-Italian military engineer Tommaso Portinari (c.1424–1501), Florentine banker Portinari Triptych , a painting by Hugo van der Goes Portinari Chapel , in the Basilica of Sant'Eustorgio, Milan Topics referred to by
76-702: A "Beatrice" only twice, on occasions separated by nine years, but was so affected by the meetings that he carried his love for her throughout his life. The tradition that identifies Bice di Folco Portinari as the Beatrice loved by Dante is now widely, though not unanimously, accepted by scholars. Boccaccio , in his commentary on the Divine Comedy , was the first one to explicitly refer to the woman; all later references are dependent on his unsubstantiated identification. Clear documents on her life have always been scarce, rendering even her existence doubtful. The only hard evidence
114-401: A bluebird named Beatrice. This is one of many parallels between the two works. La Vita Nuova La Vita Nuova ( pronounced [la ˈviːta ˈnwɔːva] ; modern Italian for "The New Life") or Vita Nova (Latin and medieval Italian title ) is a text by Dante Alighieri published in 1294. It is an expression of the medieval genre of courtly love in a prosimetrum style,
152-533: A combination of both prose and verse. Referred to by Dante as his libello , or "little book," La Vita Nuova is the first of two collections of verse written by Dante in his life. The collection is a prosimetrum , a piece containing both verse and prose, in the vein of Boethius ' Consolation of Philosophy . Dante used each prosimetrum as a means for combining poems written over periods of roughly ten years— La Vita Nuova contains his works from before 1283 to roughly 1293. The collection and its style fit in with
190-467: A courtly lady. Her digressions on multiple academic subjects in the Paradiso also diverge from the typical portrayal of the courtly beloved, who exists as an object of praise, rather than a subject of discourse. For example, the first of these discourses is on optics , concerning the markings on the moon, and the scientific method in general. She is frequently viewed as a Christ figure , owing to her death,
228-556: A degree of remove (at least) between historical reality and autobiographical narrative. At the beginning of the Inferno , when Virgil appears to guide Dante through the afterlife, he explains that he was sent by Beatrice. She herself was moved to intercede by the Virgin Mary and Saint Lucia . She is referenced frequently throughout his journey through hell and purgatory as a source of inspiration and comfort. Beatrice personally appears near
266-479: A degree that she had to intercede on his behalf to save him. As Beatrice guides Dante through the spheres of Heaven, she grows increasingly beautiful and indescribable, representing Dante's progress towards God. She frequently corrects Dante during his journey, acting as a spiritual guide and source of wisdom. Contrary to her initial harsh treatment, throughout Paradiso Beatrice is encouraging and patient towards Dante, taking joy in his gradual progress. When they reach
304-766: A lo core Un spirito amoroso che dormia: E poi vidi venir da lungi Amore Allegro sì, che appena il conoscia, Dicendo: "Or pensa pur di farmi onore"; E 'n ciascuna parola sua ridia. E poco stando meco il mio segnore, Guardando in quella parte onde venia, Io vidi monna Vanna e monna Bice Venire inver lo loco là 'v'io era, L'una appresso de l'altra miriviglia; E sì come la mente mi ridice, Amor mi disse: "Quell'è Primavera, E quell'ha nome Amor, sì mi somiglia." I felt myself waking up inside my core A loving spirit that sleeps: And then I saw Love coming from afar Cheerful yes, as soon as he knows it saying, "You think you can honour me;" and with each word laughing. And little being with me my lord, watching
342-491: A passing resemblance to her historical antecedent. Beatrice first appears in the autobiographical text La Vita Nuova , which Dante wrote around 1293. The Vita Nuova 's autoethnographical poetry and prose present Beatrice, and the poet's passion for her, in the context of Dante's own social and romantic reality. Dante's portrayal of Beatrice in the Vita Nuova is unambiguously positive, but at this early stage resembles
380-538: A title for his 1866 painting Monna Vanna . La vita nuova is a 1902 cantata based on the text by Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari . Vladimir Martynov 's 2003 opera Vita Nuova premiered in the U.S. on February 28, 2009 at the Alice Tully Hall , performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra , conducted by Vladimir Jurowski . A modified version of the opening line of the work's Introduction was used on
418-409: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Beatrice Portinari Beatrice " Bice " di Folco Portinari ( Italian: [beaˈtriːtʃe portiˈnaːri] ; 1265 – 8 or 19 June 1290) was an Italian woman who has been commonly identified as the principal inspiration for Dante Alighieri 's Vita Nuova , and is also identified with
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#1732844652684456-451: Is helpful for understanding the context of his other works, principally La Commedia . Besides its content, La Vita Nuova is notable for being written in Tuscan vernacular, rather than Latin ; Dante's work helped to establish Tuscan as the basis for the national Italian language . American poet Wallace Stevens called the text "one of the great documents of Christianity," noting that
494-514: Is named after Portinari. In the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket , Snicket's love interest is named Beatrice. The relationship between the characters is very similar to that of Beatrice Portinari and Dante. In the 2014 animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall , the main characters Wirt and Greg are guided through the Unknown, a place implied to be the afterlife, by
532-513: Is suited to guide the pilgrim through the less holy realms of sin and repentance, but only divine faith can completely lead the soul to God. Despite representing divine love, Beatrice's appearance to Dante in the Garden of Eden in Purgatorio XXX is not a joyous reunion. She berates him for weeping when Virgil disappears, and then for abandoning her memory after her death and indulging in sin to such
570-478: Is the will of Folco Portinari from 1287, which says, " Item d. Bici filie sue et uxoris d. Simonis del Bardis reliquite [...], lib.50 ad floren. " The sentence is essentially a bequest to Portinari's daughter, who was married to Simone dei Bardi. Portinari was a rich banker, born in Portico di Romagna . He moved to Florence and lived in a house near Dante where he had six daughters. Portinari also gave generously to found
608-552: The Beatrice who acts as his guide in the last book of his narrative poem the Divine Comedy ( La Divina Commedia ), Paradiso , and during the conclusion of the preceding Purgatorio . In the Comedy , Beatrice symbolises divine grace and theology . Beatrice was the daughter of the banker Folco Portinari and was married to another banker, Simone dei Bardi. Dante claims to have met
646-667: The Empyrean , she leaves him to take her proper place there. Saint Bernard guides Dante for the final portion of his journey. He points out Beatrice's place in the Empyrean among several glorified women from the Bible. Dante compares Beatrice's direction of the pageant of the Church in the Garden to an admiral commanding his ship, an unusual masculine simile that has troubled the critical reading of Beatrice as
684-410: The Vita Nuova . The manner in which Dante chose to express his love for Beatrice, in both the Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy , is in line with the medieval notion of courtly love . Courtly love was a sometimes secret, often unrequited, and always respectful form of admiration for a lady. It is also first and foremost a literary conceit, rather than an actual form of intimacy. It was not uncommon for
722-539: The "new life" Dante finds through her in La Vita Nuova , and her interceding before God to save Dante's soul in the Comedy . Beatrice Portinari has been immortalized not only in Dante's poems but in paintings by Pre-Raphaelite artists and poets in the nineteenth century. Subjects taken from Dante Alighieri's La Vita Nuova , especially the idealization of Beatrice, inspired a great deal of Dante Gabriel Rossetti 's art in
760-460: The 1850s, in particular after the death of his wife Elizabeth Siddal . He idealized her image as Dante's Beatrice in a number of paintings, such as Beata Beatrix . Asteroid 83 Beatrix in the asteroid belt is named in her honor, befitting of her role as Dante's guide through the heavenly spheres. The Dante Alighieri Academy Beatrice Campus, a Catholic high school in Toronto, Ontario , Canada
798-468: The Tuscan poets before them). Sometime in his twenties, Dante decided to try to write love poetry that was less centered on the self and more aimed at love itself. He intended to elevate courtly love poetry, many of its tropes and its language, into sacred love poetry. Beatrice for Dante was the embodiment of this kind of love—transparent to the Absolute, inspiring the integration of desire aroused by beauty with
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#1732844652684836-596: The banker Simone de' Bardi , in 1287. For his part, Dante married Gemma Donati , a cousin of one of the most politically prominent families in Florence, in 1285. Despite this entanglement, he seems to have retained some feeling for Beatrice, even after her death in 1290. As Dante tells us in the Vita Nuova , he withdrew into intense study after Beatrice's death and began composing poems dedicated to her memory. The collection of these poems, along with others he had previously written in praise of Beatrice, became what we now know as
874-565: The context of his life. The chapters containing poems consist of three parts: the semi-autobiographical narrative, the lyric that resulted from those circumstances, and brief structural outline of the lyric. The poems present a frame story , recounting Dante's love of Beatrice from his first sight of her (when both were nine years old) all the way to his mourning after her death, and his determination to write of her "that which has never been written of any woman." Each separate section of commentary further refines Dante's concept of romantic love as
912-406: The emotions of courtly love and how they develop, how they are expressed in verse, how they reveal the permanent intellectual truths of the divinely created world and how love can confer blessing on the soul and bring it closer to God. The names of the people in the poem, including Beatrice herself, are employed without use of surnames or any details that would assist readers to identify them among
950-619: The end of the Purgatorio to take over as guide from the Latin poet Virgil because, as a pagan, Virgil cannot enter Paradise . Moreover Beatrice, being the incarnation of beatific love (as her name implies), is uniquely suited to lead the pilgrim into the realm of divine bliss. Naturally, then, it's Beatrice who must lead the pilgrim into heaven. Where Virgil is understood as human reason and philosophy, Beatrice represents religious knowledge and passion: theology, faith, contemplation, and grace. Philosophy
988-417: The hospital of Santa Maria Nuova . Scholars have long debated whether the historical Beatrice should be identified with the Beatrice of Dante's writing. Certainly Beatrice Portinari fits the broad biographical criteria, and it's entirely possible that she and Dante knew each other—but the Beatrice of Dante's canon doesn't seem to rely on any such correspondence and exists as a literary character who bears only
1026-540: The initial step in a spiritual development that results in the capacity for divine love (see courtly love ). Dante's unusual approach to his piece — drawing upon personal events and experience, addressing the readers, and writing in Italian rather than Latin — marked a turning point in European poetry, when many writers abandoned highly stylized forms of writing for a simpler style. Dante wanted to collect and publish
1064-451: The lady in question to have no idea of her courtly admirer, and for the admirer in question not to be interested in a real relationship at all. Instead, the courtly lady serves as a subject for the lover to exercise his poetic skill, or even to discuss philosophy, in the practice of praising her. Whether or not Dante had any feelings for his neighbor Beatrice Portinari, courtly love is the modality he chooses to convey his passion, which suggests
1102-448: The longing of the soul for divine splendor. The first full translation into English was published by Joseph Garrow in 1846. La Vita Nuova contains 42 brief chapters (31 for Guglielmo Gorni) with commentaries on 25 sonnets , one ballata , and four canzoni ; one canzone is left unfinished, interrupted by the death of Beatrice Portinari , Dante's lifelong love. Dante's two-part commentaries explain each poem, placing them within
1140-474: The lyrics dealing with his love for Beatrice, explaining the autobiographical context of its composition and pointing out the expository structure of each lyric as an aid to careful reading. The result is an important early example of emotional autobiography, as was Saint Augustine 's Confessions in the 5th century. However, like all medieval literature, it is far removed from the modern autobiographical impulse. Dante and his audience were also interested in
1178-462: The many people of Florence. Only the name "Beatrice" is used, because that was both her actual name and her symbolic name as the conferrer of blessing. Ultimately the names and people work as metaphors. In chapter XXIV, "I Felt My Heart Awaken" ("Io mi senti' svegliar dentro a lo core" , also translated as "I Felt a Loving Spirit Suddenly"), Dante recounts a meeting with Love, who asks the poet to do his best to honour her. Io mi senti' svegliar dentro
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1216-646: The more generic attitude of the courtly lady, rather than the sharply defined personality for which Beatrice is famous in the Commedia . According to Dante, he first met Beatrice when his father, Alighiero di Bellincione , took him to the Portinari house for a May Day party. They were both nine years old at the time, though Beatrice was a few months younger. Dante was instantly taken with her and remained so throughout his life in Florence—even though she married another man,
1254-504: The movement called dolce stil novo . The prose creates the illusion of narrative continuity between the poems; it is Dante's way of reconstructing himself and his art in terms of his evolving sense of the limitations of courtly love (the system of ritualized love and art that Dante and his poet-friends inherited from the Provençal poets, the Sicilian poets of the court of Frederick II , and
1292-500: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Portinari . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portinari&oldid=1004876047 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Italian-language surnames Hidden categories: Short description
1330-606: The television show Star Trek: Voyager in the episode " Latent Image " (1999). The Doctor is concerned with a moral situation and Captain Janeway reads this book and leaves the Doctor to discover the poem. The author Allegra Goodman wrote a short story entitled "La Vita Nuova", published in the May 3, 2010 issue of The New Yorker , in which Dante's words (in English) are interspersed throughout
1368-410: The text displays the influence of Christianity in promulgating "the distinctly feminine virtues in place of the sterner ideals of antiquity." The Henry Holiday painting Dante and Beatrice (1883) is inspired by La Vita Nuova , as was Dante Gabriel Rossetti 's The Salutation of Beatrice (1859). Rossetti translated the work into English in 1848 and used the character name Monna Vanna from it as
1406-427: The way it came from, I saw Lady Joan and Lady Bice coming towards the spot I was, one wonder past another wonder. And as my mind keeps telling me, Love said to me: "She is Spring who springs first, and that bears the name Love, who resembles me." Dante does not name himself in La Vita Nuova . He refers to Guido Cavalcanti as "the first of my friends", to his own sister as "a young and noble lady... who
1444-416: Was related to me by the closest consanguinity", to Beatrice's brother similarly as one who "was so linked in consanguinity to the glorious lady that no-one was closer to her". The reader is invited into the very emotional turmoil and lyrical struggle of the unnamed author's own mind and all the surrounding people in his story are seen in their relations to that mind's quest of encountering Love. La Vita Nuova
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