"La bella figlia". Marginal note on Paradiso 27.137

The seminar will mainly focus on the interpretation of Paradiso 27.136–38, “a widely debated tercet, one of the most vexed passages in the entire poem”, as it appears in Francesco da Buti’s newly discovered passage transmitted in the revised version of his commentary (1394–96), so far only accessible in manuscript form. Buti’s reading, which identifies “la bella figlia” with Circe, seems to validate the modern interpretation of the passage, that which was allegedly firstly proposed by Carmine Galanti in the nineteenth century, and later followed by Michele Barbi and by the vast majority of commentators. More broadly, Buti’s indebtedness to earlier sources – such as Pietro Alighieri’s Comentum – will be highlighted, together with the importance of providing new reliable editions of Dante commentaries.