DGR clearly translated this passage from the
Purgatorio
because he read Dante's text as a prolepsis of the
contemporary situation of the Pre-Raphaelites, whose programmatic goal
was to introduce into England a whole new approach to artistic practise.
The location of the only known text of the translation (on a
blank
page at the end of DGR's and his father's annotated copy of the
Poeti del Primo Secolo) is highly significant. DGR was using that text as one of his
major sources for the translations of early
Italian poets he was making at the time. The
intimate relation of these translations to the ideas that helped
to found the PRB is underscored by a
marginal
note DGR made in volume 2 of the
Poeti del Primo Secolo,
marking lines 1-6 of a canzone (incorrectly) attributed to Cavalcanti
with the note: “Motto for the P. R. B.” The passage in
the canzone translates: “It is important to judge
every figure for its ability to reveal, both in its form and in its attitudes,
a purified appearance of its natural character; because art should follow nature
to such a degree that it doesn't fail to render likewise its own
essential quality”.
The passage in Dante carries a subtle allusion to the historical relation between
John the Baptist and Jesus, with Cimabue and Giotto appearing as their
later secular equivalents. In addition, the passage alludes to Guido Cavalcanti
succeeding Guido Guinicelli as the dominant figure in the emergence of early
Italian poetry, and in the final line Dante points to himself as the
culminating poet in this important moment of cultural history. DGR
then remediates Dante's text to create a further historical reference, this
time to the emergence of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Textual History: Composition
The only manuscript text of this (previously unpublished) translation is
inscribed on a
blank
page at the end of DGR's and his father's annotated copy of the
Poeti del Primo Secolo.
This collection contains 1 text or image, including:
The manuscript copy in Poeti del Primo Secolo .
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
DGR clearly translated this passage from the Purgatorio because he read Dante's text as a prolepsis of the contemporary situation of the Pre-Raphaelites, whose programmatic goal was to introduce into England a whole new approach to artistic practise. The location of the only known text of the translation (on a blank page at the end of DGR's and his father's annotated copy of the Poeti del Primo Secolo) is highly significant. DGR was using that text as one of his major sources for the translations of early Italian poets he was making at the time. The intimate relation of these translations to the ideas that helped to found the PRB is underscored by a marginal note DGR made in volume 2 of the Poeti del Primo Secolo, marking lines 1-6 of a canzone (incorrectly) attributed to Cavalcanti with the note: “Motto for the P. R. B.” The passage in the canzone translates: “It is important to judge every figure for its ability to reveal, both in its form and in its attitudes, a purified appearance of its natural character; because art should follow nature to such a degree that it doesn't fail to render likewise its own essential quality”.
The passage in Dante carries a subtle allusion to the historical relation between John the Baptist and Jesus, with Cimabue and Giotto appearing as their later secular equivalents. In addition, the passage alludes to Guido Cavalcanti succeeding Guido Guinicelli as the dominant figure in the emergence of early Italian poetry, and in the final line Dante points to himself as the culminating poet in this important moment of cultural history. DGR then remediates Dante's text to create a further historical reference, this time to the emergence of the Pre-Raphaelites.
Textual History: Composition
The only manuscript text of this (previously unpublished) translation is inscribed on a blank page at the end of DGR's and his father's annotated copy of the Poeti del Primo Secolo.
Pictorial
DGR inscribes the original passage from Dante on the 1852 drawing of Giotto Painting the Portrait of Dante.
Literary
DGR's “Hand and Soul” is ultimately based on DGR's reading of the original text in Dante.