Dante illustrated through the centuries: the Biblioteca Estense Library exhibits its rarest memorabilia

From September 17, 2021 to January 8, 2022, the Biblioteca Estense of Modena will present the exhibition Dante illustrated over the centuries. Figurative Testimonies in the Collections of the Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, thus making the extraordinary Dante heritage preserved in the prestigious venue visible to the public. Set up in the Campori Room of the Biblioteca Estense, the exhibition displays extremely rare relics, from manuscripts to printed works, precious documents that allow us to retrace the entire history of ’Dante figurato,’ including a video specially made by theAcademy of Fine Arts of Bologna. From the almost cinematic sequence of papyrus style watercolors in the upper margin of all the sheets of the famous Dante Estense, to the woodcuts of the first printed editions, to the representations of Gustave Doré, Francesco Scaramuzza, William Blake, up to Salvador Dalí and Renato Guttuso, passing through the ’imagini’ of Amos Nattini: the material kept at the Biblioteca Estense documents the different ways of reading the Divine Comedy.

“With this exhibition we wanted to bring to light the richness of our Dante collections,” said Martina Bagnoli, director of the Estense Galleries, "and at the same time emphasize the absolute modernity of the Supreme Poet. The animation created by the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna is the latest act in the long ’visual fortune’ of the Comedy, which has always attracted the attention of illustrators and artists and continues to do so today."

The initiative is part of the Dante and the Divine Comedy in Emilia Romagna project, conceived by the region’s Cultural Heritage Service, in collaboration with the Società Dantesca Italiana, and has received the patronage and support of the National Committee for the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death.

The exhibition, curated by Grazia Maria De Rubeis, director of the Biblioteca Estense Universitaria, with the collaboration of Maria Elisa Agostino and Nadia De Lutio, presents more than 30 volumes. These include illuminated manuscripts of the Divine Comedy, first among them the famous Dante Estense, with its watercolor drawings on the upper margin of all the sheets. Other very rare documents include incunabula illustrated by branches and woodcuts: the Commedia printed in Florence in 1481, with two branches engraved by the Florentine goldsmith and engraver Baccio Baldini based on a design by Botticelli; the Brescian edition of 1487 rich in sixty-eight woodcuts; and the Venetian edition of 1497, illustrated by a hundred woodcuts. Among the cinquecentine, on display is the Marcolini 1544 edition, whose 87 woodcuts visually represent the structure of Dante’s Otherworld. The very few editions printed in the seventeenth century are followed by the eighteenth-century editions, the most impressive of which is the 1757-58 edition, Dante Alighieri’s La Divina Commedia. With various annotations, and copiously adorned branches, dedicated to the Sagra Imperial Majesty of Elizabeth Petrowna, Empress of All Russia. Rounding out the itinerary are books illustrated by Gustave Doré, Francesco Scaramuzza, William Blake, Salvator Dalí and Renato Guttuso, passing through the ’imagini’ of Amos Nattini. This is the monumental three-volume Divine Comedy, which engaged Amos Nattini (1892-1985) as both illustrator and publisher for more than twenty years, complete with the lectern cabinet designed by the famous architect Giò Ponti.

The exhibition concludes with a video specially made for the occasion. The project, a collaboration between the Estensi Galleries and the Department of Communication and Art Didactics of the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna, involved students in historical and iconographic research. The direction and conception are by Filippo Pierpaolo Marino, professor of Digital Video, the compositions and animations were created by Simone Tacconelli and Manuela Tommarelli together with Ivan Pjevcevic, while Stefano Diso took care of the sound design. The video is a journey through images and sounds in the universe of the Divine Comedy realized through digital and traditional animation techniques. It is a journey that leads the viewer to the discovery of Dante’s illustrations preserved at the Biblioteca Estense in Modena, reworking them through collage, painting and drawing to create new visions and suggestions of a work that is always relevant.

The Dante heritage kept in the Biblioteca Estense is vast and highly differentiated. Its first origin is in the library of the marquises d’Este, located in the Rigobello tower in the castle of Ferrara and attested as early as the time of Niccolò III d’Este (1383-1441). A treasure that was enriched by ecclesiastical suppressions, by the collection of the noble Obizzi del Catajo family, donated in 1817 by the Duke of Modena Francesco IV (1779-1846), and by the permanent deposit of the Collection of Marquis Campori. Another extraordinary Dantesque acquisition comes from the Muzzarelli Collection, donated by Erminio Muzzarelli (1900-1974) to the Biblioteca Estense in 1970 and further augmented, after the collector’s death, by subsequent donations from his wife and daughter. Formed in about forty years, between 1930 and 1970, by the doctor of Modenese origins but Marche by adoption, the Muzzarelli collection, focused exclusively on Dante, numbers about 3,500 specimens, including books, pamphlets and miscellanies, and has greatly contributed to enriching the Library’s Dante collection.

A complete redevelopment of the spaces of the Estense University Library will also be presented on the occasion of the exhibition opening. The historic rooms, starting Sept. 17, in their renovated guise will be integrated into the visitor route for openings to the public for special events, educational workshops and conferences.

Hours: Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturday (in September and October) from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Free admission.

Image: William Blake, Illustration for Dante’s Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto V, The Lustful Circle. The whirlpool of lovers

Dante illustrated through the centuries: the Biblioteca Estense Library exhibits its rarest memorabilia

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