Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy work in a painting by Domenico di Michelino in 1465. (Photo: Wikipedia) Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Academy of SocialSciences (VASS)’ Institute of Literature and the Italian Embassy in Hanoico-organised a scientific seminar on Italian poet Dante Alighieri on theoccasion of his 700th death anniversary.
Scientific reports at the event affirmed the value of DanteAlighieri’s Divine Comedy and his position in human culture as well asItaly’s culture and literature in particular.
On the occasion, the institute together with the ItalianEmbassy and the VASS’s Social Sciences Publishing House released a newversion of the Inferno section in Divine Comedy, which is one of the literatureinitiatives in the action programme signed by the two Governments in May withinthe framework of the Italy-Vietnam strategic partnership.
Born in 1265 and passed away in 1321, Alighieri was a greatItalian philosopher, a statesman, writer and poet of the Late Middle Ages. Hepioneered the Renaissance art movement and made a great impact on the worldculture and literature.
In Italy, he was known as a “Supreme Poet”. His epic poem Divine Comedy is considered the greatestliterary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of the world literature. With 14,226 lines, the work is divided into threeparts, including hell (Inferno), purgatory (Purgatorio) and paradise (Paradiso), each consistingof 33 cantos and an initial canto.
Dubbed as a Bible of the Middle Ages, the work played animportant role in founding the literary language and cultural identity of Italy./.
