Leonardo Antonio Forleo e la ‘Divina Commedia’: il «libro verseggiato di morale»

Abstract

The essay proposes the analysis of Guida allo studio di Dante, published in 1844 by Leonardo Antonio Forleo, an Apulian scholar whose crit-ics have recognized the merit of having contrib-uted to the cult and reading of Dante in Salento.Through precise and constant references to the text, the intention of the author is highlighted to detect the poetic, scientific and ethical beau-ties of Dante's Comedy, but also its allegorical contents, in order to instruct the 'valiant Italian youth' to which, motivated with a solid classi-cistic background, Forleo recommends reading and studving the poem as a source of good stud-ies and as the mother of poetry and of the Ital-ian language.