Abstract
The present paper recognizes the pertinence of the monastic culture in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili or Strife of Love in a Dream, written by Francesco Colonna in 1499. Taking as a starting point the hypothesis that the author was a Venetian monk, the research demonstrates the omnipresent Christian context in a novel that traditionally has been considered “pagan” and identifies the religious profession of the author projected over the protagonist (Poliphilo). Monastic codes of secret knowledge, prayer and meditation are content in a literary masterpiece, that reveals inner battles of the soul like distractions of the mind. Topics about free will and morality, and the recovery of human dignity, based on the role of the senses involved in the cognitive process are some of the conclusions that stem from the study of this novel from a Christian perspective.
Highlights
The Strife of Love in a Dream (Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in its original title) is a famous illustrated novel of the Renaissance (1499) and maybe, the most misunderstood
The present paper recognizes the pertinence of the monastic culture in the Hypnerotomachia Poliphili or Strife of Love in a Dream, written by Francesco Colonna in 1499
Taking as a starting point the hypothesis that the author was a Venetian monk, the research demonstrates the omnipresent Christian context in a novel that traditionally has been considered “pagan” and identifies the religious profession of the author projected over the protagonist (Poliphilo)
Summary
The Strife of Love in a Dream (Hypnerotomachia Poliphili in its original title) is a famous illustrated novel of the Renaissance (1499) and maybe, the most misunderstood. The survival and permanence of the precepts and codes developed between the second and fourth century, by writers such as Origen of Alexandria, Evagrius Ponticus, John Chrysostom, allows us to understand monastic mysticism as a sensorial experience of God, which in turn confirms Turner’s conclusions regarding erotic monastic language These authors, coming from patristic sources, help us to interpret certain sensitive peculiarities present in the novel (such as the importance attributed to the senses and aesthetic sensitivity), which we envision as privileged access routes to divine love. The identification of this divine love with the loving inclination between Poliphilo and Polia, or the correspondence of this love as the path that every monk undertakes towards Almighty God, are affirmations that are based on a monastic tradition that sinks its roots in the legacy of the Desert Fathers. Colonna’s work can be inscribed within the margins that define medieval monastic culture, because in The Strife of Love in a Dream, we can observe the key role played by physical senses, which give an account of the knowledge of God through allegory, figures and poetic icons of biblical origin
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