Florence Vacation

Florentine Writers and Poets


After the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin remained the official language of the European courts and of the Church. The first works in the vernacular date back to the XIII century. Tuscan poets decided to use their language to describe courtly love and the individual nobless of soul. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is certainly the most famous poet of that time but other important artists lived in the XIII century, as the two dolce-stil-nuovo poets Lapo Gianni and Guido Cavalcanti. In one of his first works, the Vita Nuova - or New Life -, Dante describes his love for Beatrice. Dante`s most famous work, however, is The Divine Comedy, written between 1306 and 1321. The poem is divided into three "canticas" and describes Dante`s journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Virgil guides the poet through Hell and Purgatory, whereas Beatrice guides him through Paradise. Hell is certainly the most comprehensible "cantica" and the most known all over the world, as well. The sinners Dante meets in Hell tell him their stories, which sometimes are extremely touching, like Paolo and Francesca`s, the two protagonistis of the "canto" V. Hell is full of references to the protagonists of Florentine political life. By writing his Comedy in the vernacular, Dante could reach a wide audience. Dante died in exile in 1321 in Ravenna, were his body still rests. In the Basilica of Santa Croce a grave was prepared for his mortal remains but Ravenna authorities have never accepted to give them back to Florence Florence however, is rich in places where Dante lived.

Petrarch and Boccaccio - Together with Dante, two other fathers of Italian literature lived in the 14th century: Francis Petrarch (1304-1374) and Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). Petrarch`s most famous work is the Canzoniere (Song Book), in which the poet chants his love for Laura. His verses became an example for both Italian and foreign poets and inspired the literary phenomenon known as "Petrarchism". Giovanni Boccaccio is the author of Decameron, a collection of novellas ten people, who have fled from plague-ridden Florence .. Petrarch and Boccaccio

The Renaissance - Although the Renaissance was above all characterized by the development of figurative arts, under the impulse of rulers such as Lorenzo de` Medici, who wrote the carnival song The Triumph of Baccus and Ariadne (1490), so-called Humanism developed. One of the most important literary humanists was he architect, mathematician and linguist Leon Battista Alberti. Between 1433 and 1441, Alberti dedicated to his literary masterpiece Della famiglia (On the Family), a treaty in the Tuscan dialect ... The Renaissance

From the 17th Century - In the 17th century Galileo Galilei, one of the most important Italian scientists and literate, lived and taught in Florence The astronomer and literate illustrated his theories and discoveries in The Assayer and in the famous Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. In 1633, Galileo was forced to abjure the Copernican theory, according to which the Earth turns around the sun, and was placed under house arrest. He died in 1642 ... From the 17th Century