Zofie Janssen
In my first column I want to tell you about Italy's most romantic couple: Dante Alighieri and his muse Beatrice Portinari. It was real love. They met in Florence, both under 9 years old. She was dressed in soft crimson and wore a belt around her waist. He fell for her angelic face and noble qualities.
Dante wandered through the city day after day to catch a glimpse of her, but he never spoke to her. Neither of them has ever expressed their lust or their love with a look or a word. For Dante, his love for Beatrice ultimately means only: worries, sorrows, sorrow and tears.
The new life
Nine years later, when they are both eighteen, Dante sees her dressed in white walking down a street in Florence. She turns and greets him. Her greeting fills him with joy. He is filled with her love and the meeting changes his whole life. He's going to dream about her. She becomes the subject of his first sonnet: Vita nuova (the New Life).
“For this was the first time she ever spoke to me, I was filled with so much joy that my sentences started to reel, I had to withdraw from the sight of others. So I returned to the solitude of my room and began to think about this graceful person.” – Vita Nuova III
She who makes happy
Both Beatrice and Dante are getting married, but not to each other. Dante is engaged to Gemma Donati and Beatrice marries Simone de' Bardi. But Beatrice dies when she is not yet 25 years old. The name Beatrice means 'she who makes happy'.
Even after her death, Dante continues to cherish his love for Beatrice. He won't let anyone comfort him, his eyes have been filled with tears ever since. He also mourns his lost love during his marriage to Donati. On paper, Dante describes his love Beatrice, after her death becomes Vita nuova released.
Chiesa di Dantea
The Santa Margherita dei Cerchi in Florence is an eleventh century church and is strongly associated with the poet. It is said that he first glimpsed Beatrice in this church. It is also the church where Dante married Gemma Donati.
In this church, Beatrice is buried under a separate tombstone of the Portinari family tomb. There are wicker baskets in the church. Florentines and tourists throw in there notes with the wishes of young girls and women about unrequited and unattainable loves: 'Beatrice, O Beatrice, bring me happiness in love…'
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