Dante mediterend in de Parco delle Cascine, Florence 1833 - 1892

Jules Gabriel Levasseur made this print, Dante mediterend in de Parco delle Cascine, Florence, using etching. Levasseur invites us to consider Dante Alighieri's place in Italian national identity, during a time of political unification and cultural rediscovery. The image is divided between the pensive poet and the everyday Florentines, who populate the landscape behind him. The women and children depicted here are archetypes of domesticity and continuity, key to the idea of nationhood and cultural identity. Dante, removed from these activities, is nevertheless framed as a figure of immense cultural significance to these people. In nineteenth-century Europe, defining a national identity was a project interwoven with narratives of history, language, and shared values. Levasseur, by portraying Dante in this way, engages with the complex task of forging a unified Italian cultural identity, while subtly highlighting the gendered and social roles within that project.