L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 22 L'Italo-Americano D ante Alighieri is a symbol of I t a l y a n d i t s poetry, but also o f t h e c i t y h e was born, Firenze. A proud Florentine, Dante never kept the love he had for his home- town a secret, so why is he buried in Ravenna? Well, b e c a u s e t h a t ' s w h e r e h e passed, of course, but the matter of where his mortal remains should rest was the cause of mystery and dia- tribes for centuries. Dante rests, today, in a quiet corner of the Emilia- Romagna town, his marble m a u s o l e u m p r o t e c t e d b y s u n l i g h t a n d h e a t b y t h e leafy beauty of an oak plant- ed by poet and Nobel laure- ate Giosuè Carducci, in the early 20th century. The t o m b , w h i c h i s l o v i n g l y k n o w n b y l o c a l s a s t h e z u c a r i r a , o r " s u g a r bowl" because of its shape, was designed and built at the end of the 18th century by architect Camillo Mori- gia. But before – and after – t h e n i l S o m m o P o e t a ' s bones had little rest. Dante died in 1321, while in Ravenna. Likely, the plan was to have him buried out- s i d e t h e c h u r c h o f S a i n t Francis, in a monumental sarcophagus offered by the lord of Ravenna, Guido Nov- ello da Polenta. A century a n d a h a l f l a t e r , i n 1 4 8 3 , Bernando Bembo, then head of the town, had the tomb renewed and commissioned sculptor Pietro Lombardo the bas-relief with the fea- tures of the poet we still see t o d a y i n s i d e t h e m a u - soleum. T h a t w a s t h e l a s t m o m e n t o f p e a c e p o o r Dante - or at least for his mortal body - had for some t w o h u n d r e d y e a r s . F l o - rence, which wasn't always particularly nice to her most famous child while he was alive, put her foot down to have him back and honor him properly, at least as a dead man. Ravenna wasn't going to let go. So, between the 16th a n d t h e 1 8 t h c e n t u r y , Dante's remains just… dis- appeared. Or better, they were kept safe by Ravenna's Franciscan monks. W h e r e d i d t h e y k e e p them? We don't know. Were t h e y i n R a v e n n a ? Y o u r guess is as good as mine. F o r t w o c e n t u r i e s , D a n t e was nowhere to be found. That, until 1781-82, when already-mentioned Camillo Morigia developed the cur- rent mausoleum, as com- missioned by cardinal Luigi Valenti Gonzaga. But if you think that was t h e e n d o f i t , t h e n t h i n k again. In 1810, the Francis- cans, who were in charge of the mausoleum, were forced t o l e a v e t h e i r c o n v e n t because of Napoleon's new regulations against religious o r d e r s ; l e s t t h e i n v a d e r s decided to take the father of the Italian language back to Paris with them, the monks hid his urn before leaving. Some 50 years after the end of Napoleonic rule in Italy, on the 25th of May 1865, builders were busy at w o r k o n s o m e s t r u c t u r a l renovations in the convent w h e n t h e y c a m e a c r o s s , i n s i d e a w a l l o f t h e Quadrarco di Braccioforte, an unassuming wooden box they were set to throw in the garbage. We can thank a local student, Anastasio Matteucci, who was – just l i k e a l l s t u d e n t s i n t h o s e years and for years to come i n I t a l y – w e l l v e r s e d i n L a t i n i f t h e b o n e s o f t h e most iconic poet in the his- tory of the Italian language weren't unceremoniously dumped like an old bag into a b i n : h e u n d e r s t o o d t h e incision on the box, which said it contained the bones of Dante. O n t h a t o c c a s i o n , t h e bones were collected in a crystal urn and put on dis- p l a y f o r s o m e m o n t h s . T h e n , t h e y w e r e f i n a l l y buried in the mausoleum we all know. Inside it, besides the 15th-century bas-relief made by Lombardo, we also f i n d a b r o n z e a n d s i l v e r wreath offered by the Ital- i a n a r m y a t t h e e n d o f World War One and a small votive oil lamp, filled with T u s c a n o l i v e o i l , o f f e r e d every year by the city of Flo- rence, on the second Sun- day of September, to honor her beloved poet in exile. W h e n i t c o m e s t o e t y m o l o - gy, today's w o r d i s different from many others we present in this column, which often come from good, old Latin. The verb scherzare (skehr-tsa-rai) and the noun scherzo come from the Lom- b a r d w o r d s k e r z o n . I t i s attested for the first time in the 14th century. The Lom- bards were one of the Ger- manic tribes that invaded Italy shortly after the end of the Western Roman Empire. They had reached our north- ern regions in 568 AD, led by King Alboin, to create a king- dom that was to reach all the way South to Benevento. Scherzare means "to joke," "to play a trick," but also to do something light-heartedly. T h e v e r b , j u s t l i k e t h e noun scherzo, is used very commonly in all registers of our language. You can find it in sentences like E' un ragaz- z o s i m p a t i c o , g l i p i a c e scherzare ("He is a funny guy, h e l o v e s j o k i n g a r o u n d " ) , o r H o c o m p r a t o q u e l l a maglia quasi per scherzo, ora è la mia preferita ("I bought that shirt almost as a joke, now it's my favorite"). Both scherzare and scher- z o a r e a l s o p r e s e n t i n a plethora of set sentences we use almost every day, such a s n e a n c h e p e r s c h e r z o , or non scherzare, which we can translate with "don't even joke," or "even as a joke," like i n n o n d i r l o n e a c h e p e r s c h e r z o , n o n t i l a s c e r ò andare a quel concerto! ("I won't allow you to go to that concert, not even as a joke"). Scherzare is also used to show surprise when we talk w i t h s o m e o n e . W e c a n s a y s t a i s c h e r z a n d o o r scherzi, always followed by a q u e s t i o n m a r k : S t a i scherzando? Non sapevo che fossero parenti! Or Scherzi? Credevo fosse molto più gio- vane. In these instances, we can translate both with "Are you joking?" or "Are you seri- o u s " , o r e v e n " S e r i o u s l y " ("Are you joking? I didn't k n o w t h e y w e r e r e l a t e d ; " "Are you serious? I thought he was much younger." - Stai scherzando? Non r i u s c i r ò m a i a f i n i r e i n tempo! - Are you joking? I will never manage to finish on time! - Ti ricordi quando faceva- mo scherzi alla maestra a scuola? - Do you remember when we used to play tricks on our teacher? - Stai tranquillo, quell'e- same è uno scherzo da pas- sare. - Don't worry, it's an easy exam LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE Word of the day: scherzare – an activity to take seriously! Italian curiosities: what's the story with Dante's grave? Dante Alighieri holds his masterpiece (Photo: Fallostupido/Dreamstime) © Antonio Guillem | Dreamstime.com

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