Dante and Beatrice

“Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare

la donna mia quand’ella altrui saluta,

ch’ogne lingua deven tremando muta

e gli occhi no l’ardiscon di guardare.”

(“So kind and so honest she looks

my woman, when she greets others,

that every tongue becomes, shaking, mute,

and eyes dare not look at her.”)

Thus Dante Alighieri introduces us to his beloved Beatrice in one of the most important sonnets of his Vita Nuova collection (circa 1292-1295). A woman so beautiful and noble, in her spirit and bearing, that anyone who meets her remains speechless and lowers their gaze as if they were in front of an angelic figure.

The love between Dante and Beatrice is famous, but perhaps not everyone knows that in reality it was only a platonic love, and the two were never in fact a couple. Dante observed Beatrice from afar, completely captivated by her and overwhelmed by such an affection and passion as to inspire literary works that have gone down in history. 

But how did this great love begin? Dante was only nine years old the first time he saw Bice di Folco Portinai (1266-1290), this the name with which tradition identifies Dante's literary Beatrice. It was a fleeting encounter, lost in the memory, which resurfaced when he saw her again at the age of eighteen. It seems that the second encounter took place near the Church of Santa Margherita dei Cerchi, known today as the Church of Dante, frequented by Beatrice's family. The two met eyes, she gave him a greeting and captured Dante's heart forever. From that moment Beatrice will become the muse of the great poet.
Dante observed her from afar, and never dared to confess his love to her for fear of ruining the reputation of the girl, whom she was given in marriage to Simone dei Bardi at the age of nineteen. Despite this, Dante continued to love her deeply, even after her death, following the canons of courtly love.
In his poems Dante describes her beloved, enhancing her beauty and purity, up to the point of placing her as a guide at the entrance of Paradise in the Divine Comedy.

Dante and Beatrice therefore represent that pure love, which goes beyond physical contact and fleeting passion, which goes beyond - it seems - any logical reason. A love that goes even beyond death, which is not enough to make Dante stop loving Beatrice and singing her praises in poetry. A love that becomes art.

“(...)Ella si va, sentendosi laudare,

benignamente d’umiltà vestuta,

e par che sia una cosa venuta

da cielo in terra a miracol mostrare.

Mostrasi sì piacente a chi la mira

che dà per li occhi una dolcezza al core,

che ‘ntender no la può chi no la prova;

e par che de la sua labbia si mova

un spirito soave pien d’amore,

che va dicendo a l’anima: Sospira.”

(“(...)She goes, hearing people praise her,

benignly dressed in humility,

and it seems she's something that's come

from sky to Earth to show a miracle.

She looks so attractive to those who look at her

she gives through eyes a sweet taste to heart,

which can't be understood by one who hasn't experienced it;

and it seems her face releases

a pleasing spirit full of love,

which tells the soul: Sigh.”)

- Tanto gentile e tanto onesta pare, Vita Nuova