«In sul verde e ‘n su’ fiori». The song Of the princes in the Comedy’s «Valletta fiorita».

Abstract

In this contribution we analyze the compositional singularity of one of the places of Dante's journey least influenced by medieval theological thought: The Antipurgatory. It reveals a freedom of invention and writing that converts the first nine cantos of Purgatorio into one of the most fruitful grounds of critical experimentation in contemporary Dante criticism. Inside the purgatorial vestibule we will analyze the last place visited by Dante’s character before arriving at the threshold of St. Peter’s door: the «Valletta fiorita». Of this pre-Edenic place -almost independent within the antipurgatorial geography - we will analyze how sound and musical messages help construct a liturgical space which turns out to be much more elaborate than those previously crossed by the protagonist of the poem.

Keywords

• valletta fiorita
• critica dantesca
• spazio liturgico
• medioevo.