Albero da Siena

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Albero da Siena is introduced by Griffolino d'Arezzo in Canto XXIX of the Inferno, who, in presenting himself to Dante, recalls his fellow countryman with the famous pair of verses «Io fui d'Arezzo, e Albero da Siena» (Inf. XXIX, 109). According to the critical notes on the canto, Albero was a noble and wealthy figure, documented between 1288 and 1294, perhaps the son of the bishop of Siena, a circumstance which Dante himself however leaves as uncertain. Griffolino alludes to the fact that Albero, eager to learn the art of flight, turned to him to be instructed («li mostrassi / l'arte»), receiving in return only a mocking refusal: «nol feci Dedalo», since, as the irony itself suggests, no man after the myth was capable of flying. The notes also recall how Albero, angered by the refusal, accused him of heresy, leading him to the pyre. The critical tradition has proposed an identification with the Alberto of novellas XI and XIV of Sacchetti, a figure who shares traits with the Dantean character.