Real
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region of central Italy cited by Dante in the realms of the afterlife as the land of origin of the damned and as a geographical setting for characters and moral events.
Description
Tuscany is recalled by Dante in the Inferno and the Purgatorio with different meanings: it is the land of origin of the damned soul who speaks in Inferno XXIV, where the mention of the geographical name coincides with the Tuscan identity of the sinner; it is the entire land that resonates, in Purgatorio XI, upon the naming of a character or an event capable of evoking the whole region; it is also the space traversed by a soul undergoing purification, in Purgatorio XIV, where the phrase «per mezza Toscana si spazia» indicates a route that crosses the region from one end to the other. The note to Inferno I also recalls that the Tuscan use of the word «rezzo» survives in the language of the region.
In the text
Linked verses
4 verses| Cantica | Canto | Verso | Testo | Open verse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inferno | Canto XXIV | 122 | per ch’ei rispuose: «Io piovvi di Toscana, | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto XI | 110 | dinanzi a me, Toscana sonò tutta; | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto XIII | 149 | se mai calchi la terra di Toscana, | Open verse |
| Purgatory | Canto XIV | 16 | E io: «Per mezza Toscana si spazia | Open verse |