Calligraphy and watercolors: a rare work from the 20th century dedicated to Dante’s divine poetry
La Vita Nuova - Dante Alighieri
Bergamo (Italy) — 1921

La Vita Nuova - Dante Alighieri
Bergamo (Italy) — 1921
A rare 20th century work presents the most sublime poetic composition by Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
It features watercolors by Vittorio Grassi, calligraphy Enrico Brignoli, and illumination by Nestore Leoni
The codex was created in 1921 to commemorate the sixth centenary of Dante Alighieri's death
La Vita Nuova - Dante Alighieri
Short Description
Although Dante Alighieri is best known for his Divine Comedy, it is by no means his only work. Many lovers of Italian literature consider his La Vita Nuova to be an even greater achievement and has had a discernible influence on successive generations of artists. The specimen at hand is an extremely rare 20th century illuminated manuscript created by prominent Italian artists.
La Vita Nuova - Dante Alighieri
If the Divine Comedy represents the most complicated voluminous and famous of Dante’s works, La Vita Nuova is his most sublime poetic composition. The story of his love for Beatrice starting from their first encounter when she was only nine years old is described by Dante in pure Stilnovo and offers a poetic autobiography documenting young Dante’s adhesion to the ideals and spiritual evolution of the Stilnovo. In the past, La Vita Nuova has inspired many writers and artists, even if only one illustrated, full-color edition has been produced in the six centuries since its creation. In 1921, year of the sixth-centennial of Dante Alighieri’s death, three artists worked together to create what we can consider today to be a real and perhaps unique illuminated manuscript of the 20th century – La Vita Nuova – illustrated with forty original watercolors by Vittorio Grassi, entirely hand written by the calligrapher Enrico Brignoli, and decorated on every page by Nestore Leoni’s decorations.
Codicology
- Size / Format
- 136 pages / 41.0 x 31.0 cm
- Origin
- Bergamo (Italy)
- Date
- 1921
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Artist / School
- Vittorio Grassi
Nestore Leoni
Enrico Brignoli (calligrapher)
1 available facsimile edition(s) of „La Vita Nuova - Dante Alighieri“
La Vita Nuova
- Publisher
- Vallecchi – Florence, 2003
- Limited Edition
- 2999 copies
- Binding
- Blue silk with silver impressions; silk-bound case
- Commentary
-
1 volume by Domenico De Robertis
Language: Italian - More Information
- Reproduction of the entire original document as detailed as possible (scope, format, colors). The binding may not correspond to the original or current document binding.
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