Abstract
Even if Venice is never directly mentioned in Dante’s works, its silent presence is undeniable along the narrative plot of the Commedia, starting with the well-known similarity of the Arsenale, through which, in the incipit of the XXI canto of the Inferno, the poet describes the pain of the barterers immersed in boiling pitch. Venice, however, is also a significant presence in Dante’s biography, starting from the circumstances of the poet’s death: according to the chronicler Giovanni Villani, in fact, Dante died between September 13 and 14 in Ravenna after having returned from an embassy in Venice to the Doge Giovanni Soranzo on behalf of Guido Novello da Polenta. The article examines the function of Venice in the literary elaboration of Alighieri’s work and in the perimeter of his biography.
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