L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 28, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 24 L'Italo-Americano E v e r y I t a l i a n s c h o o l c h i l d knows that "the f a t h e r s o f t h e Italian language a r e D a n t e A l i g h i e r i , F r a n c e s c o P e t r a r c a , a n d G i o v a n n i B o c c a c c i o . " I n d e e d , t h e s e a r e t h r e e giants of our literature, so much so that they are prob- ably familiar even to people who have zero interest in poetry and know nothing about medieval Italy. Last year, we've celebrat- ed the 700th anniversary of il Sommo Poeta's death, but this year is important, too, because 718 years ago, o n t h e 2 0 t h o f J u l y 1304, Francesco Petrarca was born. H i s C a n z o n i e r e , a l s o k n o w n b y t h e L a t i n t i t l e of Rerum Vulgarium Frag- m e n t a , i s c o n s i d e r e d – a l o n g w i t h D a n t e ' s – t h e highest example of medieval Italian poetry. While his importance in the history of our literature and language is comparable to that of Dante, Petrarca probably doesn't enjoy as much pop cred as the author of the Divine Comedy. Yet, there are plenty of interest- ing things to say about him, his life, and his works… He kept interesting rela- tions Petrarca had important friends, as he was certainly on first-name-terms with G i o v a n n i B o c c a c c i o , w h o was nine years his junior. The two met in Florence in 1350 and remained friends t h r o u g h o u t t h e i r l i v e s , exchanging letters that we still have today. In one of t h e m ( F a m i l i a r e s X X I ) , P e t r a r c a o p e n s u p a b o u t D a n t e a n d h i s w r i t i n g skills… in Latin: apparently, good old Francesco wasn't too fond of Dante's Latin works, but appreciated his composition in volgare. Dante died in 1321, when Petrarca was only 17, so did the two actually know each o t h e r ? G o o d q u e s t i o n . According to historians, it's l i k e l y t h a t P e t r a r c a m e t Dante as a child because his father was from Florence and exiled, just like Dante. The matter of when exactly the meeting took place is highly debated in academia, but there seems to be some agreement on a year, 1311, a n d p o s s i b l y o n a p l a c e , Pisa. Just like Dante, Petrarca had a special muse W e a l l k n o w B e a t r i c e Portinari, the woman who inspired Dante's love verses and was an integrant part of h i s C o m m e d i a . M u c h research has been done on her figure and her relation- ship with Dante. In truth, the poet himself gave us a pretty detailed outline of the two's meetings in the Vita Nova, which was entirely d e d i c a t e d t o P o r t i n a r i . D a n t e h a d i d e a l i z e d t h e w o m a n , w i t h w h o m h e probably never spoke; she w a s m a r r i e d y o u n g t o another man and died much earlier than the poet. But Dante wasn't the only o n e w h o h a d a n a n g e l i c muse: Petrarca – and as a matter of fact, Boccaccio – h a d o n e , t o o . H e r n a m e was Laura but, about her, we know very little. The poet fell in love with her on the 6 t h o f A p r i l 1 3 2 7 i n A v i - gnon, France: their meeting took place in a church. From that moment on, every love word coming from Petrar- ca's pen was inspired by her golden tresses and beautiful eyes. But who was she? According to some, her n a m e w a s L a u r e d e N o v e s a n d s h e w a s a French aristocrat married to a marquis; but for others, Laura never really existed, if not in the mind of Petrarca himself, an idealized female figure, who embodied all the characteristics of the Donna Angelo, the angelic woman of the Dolce Stil Novo and much of late medieval Ital- ian poetry. Her very name could be a give-away sign of her imaginary nature: Laura is perfectly parallel to l'au- r a , t h e a i r , w h i c h o f t e n dishevels her hair; to lauro, the laurel, symbol of poetry; a n d t o l ' a u r o , a l a t i n i z e d v e r s i o n o f t h e word oro, gold, the color of Laura's hair. W h a t h a p p e n e d t o h i s mortal remains? Petrarca died in 1374 in Arquà, a village in Veneto where he was buried. How- ever, his body didn't rest quietly. In 1630, grave rob- bers stole the bones of one o f h i s a r m s t h e n , i n t h e 1800s, it was the turn of a rib, which was more or less promptly returned. After a t r i p t o t h e b a s e m e n t o f Venice's Palazzo Ducale dur- ing the war, Petrarca's skele- ton rested more or less in tranquility until the early 2000s, when the Università di Padova decided to check on its state of preservation and use modern technolo- gies to develop a computer- ized image of the poet based on his bones. You can imag- i n e t h e s u r p r i s e w h e n researchers found out that Petrarca's skull wasn't, in fact, Petrarca's, but that of a w o m a n w h o h a d d i e d a t l e a s t o n e h u n d r e d y e a r s before him. What happened to Petrar- c a ' s h e a d ? W h o t o o k i t ? When? Where is it today?It h a s b e e n s p e c u l a t e d t h e s k u l l w a s s t o l e n a t s o m e stage, without anyone notic- ing because of the replace- ment. Still, none of these questions have an answer. Petrarca's skull is still miss- ing today. If the mystery surround- ing Petrarca's bones fasci- n a t e s y o u a n d y o u f a n c y reading something in Italian t h i s s u m m e r , y o u s h o u l d check Claudio Povolo's Il Frate, il Conte e l'Antropol- ogo, a book dedicated to the mysterious events surround- ing the mortal remains of the poet. Povolo, who is a lecturer at Venice's Ca' Fos- cari University, offers a deep dive into little-known events and figures, all somehow c o n n e c t e d t o P e t r a r c a ' s bones and to the reason why some of them are missing. Francesco Petrarca: life and curiosities of Italy's number one poet FRANCESCA BEZZONE A portrait of Francesco Petrarca wearing the laurel crown, symbol of poetry (Photo: Georgios Kollidas/Dreamstime) HERITAGE HISTORY IDENTITY TRADITIONS PEOPLE

• Cover