Gianni Schicchi

Profile

Gianni Schicchi is a soul whom the poet encounters in the eighth circle, in the zone of the falsifiers, as attested by the verse-anchor of canto XXX of the Inferno. The text presents him in the grotesque guise of a 'sprite' who runs onto the scene and bites a companion in punishment, within the picture described by the notes of the canto as characterized by stylistic contrasts and the mixture of a tragic and comic register. The name is accompanied by the note indicating, among the falsifiers of the ditch, the co-presence of characters of very different eras and qualities. The notes also highlight the distinctive phonetic trait of the character, linked to the rhymes in -icchi and to his 'capricious' profile. The authorized sources provide no further biographical details on his historical identity, limiting themselves to noting his scenic presence in the canto.