Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1922-01-18
The Picture Of Dante

~ p1ueuso e young Dante -
enraIGno1 ~ ~ 0totto In = frssco OF
~ cAApol q podee&A In Florence. the
pr~ctouo painting had been covered oy
. lAyoe q vArnish and was not ols-
covere1 until la<0. whom some r.
boirs wure aoae In the sdtncs. Natur-
ally u - Wurn. but Il presents 10 v.
sussctsntly the youthful features o.
the pet. WAo. crowned with i""re'
WREATH. sttil eAses IT us With an ar
somewhat cd. hut glowing with dis-
nifty.
rur<hsvu,crs 70 remind us Of tho out
linse and costumes Of the divine post
-, have the very vivid and graphic
A.scr,v,ion which WAS bcQueathed us
hy poccscc.o, . great prose writer OF
The isth century. He thus describes
hlm.
This poet Of ours wHs OF medium
s,,r. and later In NE was somewhat
stoop~d. and his gait was grave and
meek. lie wore clothing becoming to
his ase. His face was long and his
nose aquii,ne. and the eyes rather big
than small. big Jaws, and the upper
iips protruding more than the lower
one. Tho color OF his visaKe was
dark, tho hair black and curled, al
WAYS meiancholic and pensive. One
day. ma his fame had spread every
where, especially that portion OF the
D,v,n. Comedy referring 10 the IN
ferno or He'll. Dante was stroliins
through Verona. Passing In front OF a
hcua~ whore several ladies were chat
ting. one Of them said To the others;
DO YOU see him who visits Hell az
pleasure and Gomez back as he pleases
t. bring us news OF those that lay be-
lcwy To whom another naively re
tanned, In troth you must speak
truly Don't you see that he wears a
curisd beard and n dark complexion
because OF the heat and emoks down
hslcw7' These words were heard os
Dante, who smiled and passed by.
From poccaccio We also learn tha'
n. was In domestic and public GUS
toms ordinate and composed more s.
than any other civilian" that he was
sohcr and regulated IN his eating ane
drinking and did not care very mucf
about hts board; that II he praised
good eats very willingly used simple
food. and chided severely the glut
tpnouA stating that these people were
living 10 eat instead OF eating 10 live.
Dante spoke moderately. weighin.
h,s words. but when occasion demand
I'd n. he was very eloquent.
In youth he esteemed highly lyri
art srpreciauns tho friendship o
the best musicians and singers OF hi
tan,es composing many songs. Sine
hla childhood he was poet. Thi
sxp,aina In part his great love 10
solitude and beis oncntuin ada"fireo
solitude and being continually absorb
ed In his thoughts. 1t II said, indeed
that when no was questioned. he hes
ta,od answering III he had arresse
In his Imagination tho idea he wa
following.
In studics he VIVA very assiduoui
Thl. fact we need not learn from h
biographcrs a. his works luminousl
show ua. II In sufY,cisnt TO read an
CAnto OF his Divine Comedy TO b
convinced that he must have imagine
and deeply madiated all that literature
history. astronomy and mctaphysio
Of HE age had to offer. 1t Ia tru
that he had an excepisopal intelli
gsncs and memory. but this does nc
mean that he did not have to wor
hard From himself we knew that o
tho works Of Virgil be had "becom
su,aciAted" and he must have becom
lean on many other standard work
judging py his immense culture.
RcocAccio narrstcs that he was q
greedy In reading and 20 attentive I
study. that once having found
famous booklet in drug store ,
eisnA. me bent on the counter ar
having placed the book before hir
be began 10 read It with gres
supidity.~ and remained In this p,
stttcn for hours. while In tho plaza
front ~ the apothecAry people wei
celebrating a great festival with mus