Sforzesco Castle. The first printed editions of the Divine Comedy are on display
The display in the Sala del Tesoro recounts the manuscript and printed tradition of Dante's comedy - Photo gallery
Milan, January 26 2022 – "26. Typographic art meets Comedy", a small but precious exhibition set up in the Treasure Room at the Sforzesco Castle and dedicated to the first printed editions of the Divine Comedy, will be inaugurated today, Wednesday 18 January, at 30pm.
Curated by Isabella Fiorentini and Loredana Minenna and produced by the Civic Historical Archive and the Trivulziana Library, the exhibition is free to enter and will remain open to the public from 28 January to 30 April.
The Trivulziana civic library preserves the entire fifteenth-century printed production of the "Divine Comedy": from the first edition published in Foligno on 11 April 1472 to the Venetian edition of 11 October 1497, and therefore also boasts the very rare incunabulum printed in Naples by Francesco del Tuppo in 1478, of which only three examples are known in the world. The exceptional collection is the result of the centuries-old commitment of the learned collectors of the Trivulzio family, of which the Library is the heir.
The exhibition tells the general public about aspects relating to the manuscript and printed tradition of Dante's comedy which are usually the exclusive prerogative of scholars. In the exhibition itinerary, attention is drawn to some material details of the specimens on display and, at the same time, to the choices adopted for the individual editions by the typographer-publishers in terms of layout and textual model, in a story that intends to quickly evoke mentions the richness of typographic practice and the publishing market in Italy in the second half of the fifteenth century, already a few years after the invention of movable type printing.
The didactic apparatus, in Italian and English, also includes an explanation of the recurring specialist terms and is accompanied by some food for thought aimed at younger visitors, so that the theme of the ancient print of Dante's comedy also becomes an opportunity for them to learn about the tradition and education in the appreciation of the originals.
An original scenography set up in the Treasure Room "theatralizes" the beginning of the three cantics of the Comedy using the plates of two of the main illustrated editions of the work published in the fifteenth century.
The physical exhibition in the Treasure Room is complemented by the online publication of a guide and a rich archive of images relating to the editions of the comedy produced in the first century of printing.
Updated: 28/01/2022