Within ‘Books that talk about books’, the new Passaggi Festival exhibition (Fano, 26/30 June) dedicated to volumes that cite, reflect and tell about other volumes and other authors, there will also be a space dedicated to Dante and to his relationship with Fano. The book is ‘Dante and the city of Fortune’ (Metauro Edizioni) written by Andrea Angelucci, poet and president of the Circolo Bianchini of Fano which the author will present on Wednesday 26 June in the Benedictine Cloister in dialogue with the writer and literary critic Enrico Capodaglio (6.30pm).
A study that opens a new interpretative path within Dante’s masterpiece: at the center of the book we find the epigraph containing the epitaph of Jacopo del Cassero, preserved in the church of San Domenico in Fano and until now underestimated as a significant element in the architecture of Comedy. Dante imagines having met Messer Jacopo on the slopes of Mount Purgatory and – an extremely interesting fact – puts a phrase in his mouth that follows some verses of his epitaph: the exclamation refers to the role of luck in the episode that led to his death at the hands of the assassins of Azzo VIII d’Este, on the banks of the Brenta. The thesis proposed is that Dante, knowing the ancient name of Fano, Fanum Fortunae, took up the verses of the tombstone to characterize the character of Jacopo as a representative not only of a city but also of a social category, that of the officials, the military in general, among whom the cult of luck must have survived in more or less discovered forms. In the book Angelucci tries to revive those ancient events and bring to light the reasons for Dante’s intertextual operation. Dante chose to build on Fano and the ancient pagan past one of his buildings of thought and poetry which concern the theme of luck, death and life in the afterlife. The final parts of the volume are dedicated to a careful stylistic and poetic examination of the sixteen Latin verses of Fano’s epigraph, also to try to identify the personality of the person who wrote it. To support his hypotheses, the author makes use of rich documentation and careful research of sources that coexist with narrative fluency and, where necessary, with dramatic feeling. There is no lack of methodological rigor in the careful variation of subjects and expressive methods, based on a constellation of broad and competing confirmations.
The series is completed by appointments inside the former church of San Francesco: on the same day the journalist Simonetta Fiori and the political scientist Marco Ravelli will present “The Raskolnikov Library. Books and ideas for a democratic identity” (Einaudi), followed by the journalist Davide Eusebi and the food and wine expert Otello Renzi (28/6) to tell us about the “Vineyard cultures. Journey through the senses in the footsteps of Mario Soldati” (ELI Editorial Group), a meeting which also includes a thoughtful tasting of Bianchello organized by the Guerrieri di Piagge Agricultural Company. The authors will dialogue with Marino Sinibaldi. The special event ‘With the weapons of criticism and poetry’ (27/6) will be dedicated to the memory of the poet and writer Katia MIgliori with Tiziana Mattioli (University of Urbino) and the publisher Federica Savini (Aras Editions). The poet’s participation is expected Gianni D’Elia author of ‘The sister of the dream’ (Luca Sossella Editore) and the preview of the book by Mirco Giulietti “30 years of Mario Luzi in Montemaggiore. Homage to Katia Migliori” (Conte Camillo Edizioni). The journalist Alberto Pancrazi will moderate the meeting. All events have free entry. Complete program on Passaggifestival.it.
