< Return to Listing of 2007 Travel Pursuits
To Hell and Back with Dante:
The Flowering of the Late Middle
Ages
in Italy
Location
Florence, Italy, with excursions to Assisi and Siena; and Fiesole
Dates
May 13–23 (10 nights)
Authors
Dante, Divine Comedy (selections); St. Francis of Assisi and Jacopone da Todi (selected poetry); Giotto, fresco cycles
Program Description
Florence is one of the world’s most beautiful cities, with its domes, towers and frescoed palazzos. The home of Leonardo and Michelangelo, here the Italian Renaissance was born. Yet for many Florentines, the city’s most illustrious son is not an artist,
but a poet: Dante Alighieri.
Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita
mi retrovai per una selva oscura
che la diritta via era smarrita.
In the middle of the road of our life
I awoke in a dark wood
where the straight way was lost.
Thus opens The Divine Comedy, an epic journey thorough hell, purgatory, and paradise. Along the way, Dante sees the full range of the human soul, from sin and sorrow to love and wisdom. We will follow this remarkable journey by reading excerpts from the Comedy, which weaves together myth, theology, history, and vivid portraits of Dante’s contemporaries.
Two of his contemporaries, Giotto and St. Francis of Assisi give a fuller picture of Dante’s faith and times. Francis, with his mystical vision, vows of holy poverty, and love for all of God’s creatures, continues to have a profound influence. Giotto, often called the ‘father of Western art,’ painted a series of frescoes that gave visual form to the new humanism of Dante and Francis. With a bold new naturalism he modeled the outer form of men and women to reveal their inner feelings.
We will spend six nights in Florence and four nights in a villa in the surrounding hills. We will be guided on foot through the medieval city Dante might have known and explore Renaissance churches and renowned museums. We will discuss The Divine Comedy and the poetry of St. Francis and Jacopone da Todi. We will make excursions to Assisi, the beautiful hill-town of Francis’ birth, to view Giotto’s frescoes and to talk with the Franciscan friars and sisters, and to Siena to see its magnificent cathedral and civic square. And naturally, we will enjoy fine Tuscan food and wine.
Discussion Leader
Tom Govero teaches classics and humanities at John Cabot University in Rome. Tom proposed this trip linking Dante, St. Francis and Giotto since their works reflect the medieval synthesis of the natural and divine.
Sean Forester is a painter and poet living in Florence. Sean teaches art history at the Florence Academy of Art and looks forward to sharing the terrors of hell, the transformation of purgatory, and perhaps the bliss of paradise as we journey with Dante.
Accommodation
We will spend the first six nights staying at Hotel Silla, a charming 17th Century villa in a quiet location on the left bank of the Arno River but within an easy walk to all the sites, then decamp to Pensione Bencistà, a family-run villa set among olive groves and lemon trees in the hilltop town of Fiesole.
Fees
$4,300 Cdn
$565 Cdn – single supplement
$3,800 U.S.
$510 U.S. – single supplement
Fees include
- books
- accommodation
- two meals a day
- discussions
- walking tours
- talks
- excursions
- admissions
