Life of Dante

by Giovanni Boccaccio, J.G. Nichols (Translator), A.N. Wilson (Foreword by)

Life of Dante is a fascinating and hugely important literary work both in terms of the revelations it provides into the lives and thoughts of two great Italian men, and also as an early example of biography. Boccaccio was a fervent admirer of Dante, and as such, he embarked upon writing this short piece as a vindication of the merits of his illustrious fellow-citizen. Yet far from being simply an account of the misfortunes that befell the great Florentine exile, the resulting Life of Dante also gives precious insight into Boccaccio's own ideas on a wide variety of issues including poetry, literature, women, and society.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Italian Literature, Classics, Italy, Renaissance, History

91 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1360

About the author

Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian author and poet, a friend and correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular. Boccaccio is particularly notable for his dialogue, of which it has been said that it surpasses in verisimilitude that of just about all of his contemporaries, since they were medieval writers and often followed formulaic models for character and plot.

Reviews

[María Carpio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luminoso. Boccaccio no llegó a conocer a Dante personalmente, pero lo hizo a través de uno de los amigos cercanos del poeta, Cino da Pistoia, quien era profesor en el Estudio napolitano, donde Boccaccio era alumno de Derecho. A través del maestro conoce la pluma de Dante, quien para entonces ya había fallecido, y empieza la fascinación. Desde entonces se pone como meta restaurar la imagen del que consideraba el genio de la poesía (en lenguaje vulgar, cosa importantísima), trono que segun Boccaccio también compartía otro poeta contemporáneo suyo, Petrarca. Para Boccaccio Dante, sin embargo, significaba su modelo a seguir. Pasó años copiando en manuscritos sus obras, algunos de los cuales los envió al mismo Petrarca. Igualmente dedicó años estudiando su vida y obra, recabando información de sus cartas y epístolas, entrevistándose con sus hijos y otros conocidos, e incluso, adjuntando historias de su propia cosecha. Es así como nace esta biografía que, entre realidades y mitos, busca elevar justamente la figura de Dante a un nivel legendario. Aquí retrata su vida de una forma novedosa: retoma el antiguo arte de la Biografía (desarrollado en la antigua Roma, y basándose principalmente en Suetonio), incluso tomando la estructura exacta de ésta, e inaugura el género biográfico moderno. Pero sobre todo, lo que le interesa a Boccaccio es mostrar la irrefrenable vocación poética de Dante que, al contrario de muchos de su tiempo, quería que fuera gracias a ella que alcanzara la gloria. Dante anhelaba la fama y la inmortalidad a través de la poesía. Esa era su más grande ambición, que nunca pudo verla en vida, ya que por los problemas políticos intestinos de la época entre las facciones de los gibelinos y la de los güelfos, fue desterrado de su natal Florencia a la que nunca pudo volver ni tampoco quiso volver humillandose por un perdón. De ahí que jamás pudo conseguir la ansiada corona de laureles, y Boccaccio con esta Biografía hace esa corona y la pone en su cabeza. Justicia poética. No obstante, Boccaccio es justo y claro en su intención: se dirige al lector honestamente y dice que esta obra es apenas un camino hacia Dante y que si comete imprecisiones, ya podrán otros corregirla en nuevos libros sobre Dante. Y vaya que así pasó. Boccaccio fue el primero de cientos que estudiarion y biografiaron la obra de Dante. Fue visionario en su mirada. Y así como es honesto en su propio trabajo, también lo es en su elogio a Dante. Sabe que no era un hombre perfecto, que tenía sus bemoles como cualquier ser humano, y señala algunos en honor a la verdad literaria: su ambición por la gloria, su lujuria exacerbada (aunque la justifica) y su odio enfermizo por los gibelinos primero y después por los güelfos, ya que él aún siendo güelfo (blanco) fue expulsado de Florencia por los güelfos (negros), incluso llegando a decir que sería capaz de tirar piedras a un niño o mujer perteneciente a una de esas facciones (lo cual avergüenza al autor). Esto, dice Boccaccio, lo hace para no quitarle credibilidad a las alabanzas, es decir, para hacer más fidedigno su texto. En suma, una obra única y pionera en su género, que incluye biografía, loa, análisis literario, algo de ficción, y la historia de cómo escribió Dante su obra más grande, la Commedia. Así como el señalar, quizás, la más grande innovación poética de su tiempo: el que Dante usara la lengua vulgar (el florentino) en lugar del culto latín como una forma no sólo de llegar a más público para alcanzar mayor fama, sino principalmente para romper la barrera de la poesía que para entonces llegaba sólo a un reducido público culto, y llevarla a las masas. Un verdadero visionario Dante. Tan visionario como profético, tal cual su personaje en La Commedia.

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giovanni Boccaccio’s Life of Dante is not so much a biography as it is an act of devotion. Written in the fourteenth century, when Florence was still wrestling with its conscience over how it had treated its greatest poet, Boccaccio’s little book occupies that strange, luminous space between history and hagiography.

It is the work of a man who revered Dante with such intensity that he could not resist shaping his master’s life into a narrative equal to the Commedia itself—grand, tragic, tinged with divine justice. If you want facts, this is not your book.

If you want atmosphere, reverence, and the sound of one genius kneeling before another, Life of Dante is a minor classic.

Boccaccio, of course, was not an impartial historian. He was a literary son to Dante, one of the first to recognise him not merely as a great poet but as Italy’s national voice. He constructs Dante’s life as if it were already myth: the difficult birth, the precocious brilliance, and the exile that becomes both punishment and purification.

Dante’s suffering is presented as a kind of secular martyrdom, endured not for faith but for truth and poetry. It is impossible not to sense Boccaccio’s emotional stake in this story—his pen constantly trembles with admiration, indignation, and love. In a way, this is less Vita di Dante and more Vita Sancti Dantis.

What makes this short biography remarkable is the balance between anecdote and reverence. Boccaccio gives us glimpses of Dante the man: austere, sometimes haughty, occasionally comically human in his temper and obsessions. But he never lingers too long on the mundane. Instead, each detail serves to elevate Dante into something larger than himself—a vessel chosen to speak with almost divine authority.

When he narrates Dante’s exile, for example, Boccaccio transforms the ordinary cruelty of Florentine politics into the grand tragedy of a prophet rejected by his city. The tone oscillates between lament and righteous anger, as though Boccaccio were chastising his fellow citizens for their blindness.

Yet for all its devotional fervour, Life of Dante is not without its subtle artistry. Boccaccio knew how to weave narrative with moral commentary, how to create a rhythm of prose that carried its own persuasive force. His admiration for Dante is not only personal but cultural: he sees Dante as the cornerstone of Italian letters, the figure who elevates the vernacular into something equal, if not superior, to Latin.

In this sense, the biography is also a polemical text, a declaration of the dignity of Italian literature at a time when Latin still held the aura of intellectual supremacy.

Of course, modern readers will find gaps, exaggerations, and outright fabrications. Boccaccio does not pretend to strict accuracy, and by contemporary standards, the work is riddled with bias. But demanding objectivity from Life of Dante is like demanding statistical footnotes from Homer. The text survives not because of its precision but because of its passion.

It captures the way Dante’s contemporaries—especially those who loved him—felt about his work and his fate. It preserves an emotional truth about what it meant to live in the shadow of such a mind.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of Life of Dante is that it makes us see how biography itself can be an art form. Boccaccio is less a chronicler than a curator of aura, shaping Dante’s memory so that later generations would encounter not just a man of letters but a figure of almost prophetic stature.

That this image persists—Dante the exile, Dante the prophet of a new poetic language, Dante the martyr to truth—owes much to Boccaccio’s early canonisation. Without Life of Dante, the poet might have remained a brilliant Florentine. With it, he becomes Dante Alighieri, world-historical figure.

In the end, reading Boccaccio’s Life of Dante is like eavesdropping on a love letter disguised as biography. It is biased, uncritical, and occasionally overblown—but it is also tender, luminous, and unforgettable.

In its pages, Boccaccio passes down not just information but devotion, ensuring that Dante’s afterlife would be as grand, as solemn, and as enduring as his poetry deserved.

[Viji (Bookish endeavors) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful.! Simply beautiful.!! That's what it was. Boccaccio intended to write a biography and ended up writing a poetry. I was struck by the beauty of his words,rather than the content. Content doesn't seem much reliable,even though Boccaccio had access to most of the details. Instead of concentrating on the details and making it an objective systematic biography,he gave importance to emotions. The whole book can be read in one stretch,the flow is so good and the words so beautiful..

[Rick Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boccaccio, who is best known for his Decameron, was a fellow Florentine and was 10 years old when Dante died. In his Life of Dante, In this book Boccaccio shares anecdotes he has gathered about Dante from people who knew him, most notably Dante’s sister and nephew. Boccaccio seems to have some sort of ADHD issues as he is constantly going off into rabbit trails and diversions. For example, he spends an entire chapter railing against women in the most humorously misogynistic way imaginable after telling of Dante’s wedding. Then, after spending several pages beating up wives and women in general, he adds shortly that he doesn’t really know anything about Dante’s relationship with his wife. A more notable rabbit trail comes later in the book when he details the beginnings of poetry from pagan mythology. Though it has absolutely nothing to do with Dante, this was my favorite chapter of the book because it provides one of the best arguments I’ve ever seen on why Christians should read works of pagan literature.

Despite the fun, anecdotal nature of the biography however, the reader is left without a real framework of Dante’s life. We learn about how Dante sat on a public bench reading while a huge parade went by and was so engrossed in his book that he didn’t even notice. However, we are not told why Dante was expelled from Florence, how he died, or other essential pieces of information about his life. Fortunately the copy I read appended a 12 page supplement to Boccaccio written by Leonardo Bruni during Boccaccio’s life in order to provide all the details that were passed over in Boccaccio’s wild romp.

Overall, I recommend this book for anyone who is a fan of Dante’s writings and interesting in getting a personal view of Dante from people who lived in and around his time period.

[Illiterate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slight. A glimpse into Boccaccio’s sensibility as much as a study of Dante.

[Caio Andrade · Rating 4 out of 5]

[The Immersion Library]

💫Immerse Yourself in Life of Dante💫
🎶Listen | Classical Focus: Italian Renaissance 🕯️

Oh, foolish minds! One brief fragment of an hour will separate the spirit from the failing body, and bring to nothing all the blameworthy toils, and time, which must consume all things, will either quickly destroy the memory of the wealthy man, or preserve it for a little while to his shame. This certainly will not happen to our poet. Rather, just as we see implements of war become more brilliant by usage, so will it be with his name, and the more it is rubbed by time, the more it will continue to shine. Therefore let him who wants to, toil on in his own pursuits, and let it suffice him to be left alone to do so, without seeking to censure another's virtuous work, condemning things which he does not understand himself.

What would Dante think of this biography?

Giovanni Boccaccio, an Italian master in his own right, professes reverberating vibrato in his praise for Dante and condemnation of Florence; his logical arguments regarding virtues and vices, his definitions on the nature of poetry and greatness, resound with inspiration. But how would Dante, as the primary subject of this work (digressions aside), characterize it?

As a modern reader, one must consider Boccaccio's motivations as well as his audience's demands. As medieval literature bridged over to early Renaissance, was Boccaccio more concerned with accurately recounting Dante's life or with composing a treatise glorifying the meaning of that life as exemplified through his craft?

Throughout the book, Boccaccio describes Dante's experience as one fraught with ill-fortune rather than personal choices; as a tragic victim of circumstance. While describing a man who composed one of the greatest epic poems in western culture analyzing merits, Boccaccio does not seem to analyze Dante's experiences according to his merits. Boccaccio rather characterizes Dante as an ascetic man of learning who did not gain his appropriate reward - the same analysis he may have provided for any wise man of Dante's caliber who similarly suffered. In this sense, Boccaccio does not illustrate a life of Dante in particular but rather delivers fiery sermons on the just deserts of anyone with such brilliance. He calls Dante's tendency to love a distraction from his studies; something that cheated him out of additional greatness and higher learning. But let us not forget that Dante's vision of God centered around love. So I ask again: Was Boccaccio more concerned with remaining true to Dante or with broadcasting his own ideas?

Any skeptic would likely jerk at the smelling salts of Dante's mother's prophetic dreams or his son's vision of the location of the The Divine Comedy's last thirteen cantos. With these devices Boccaccio adds a legendary quality to the memory of Dante; as if telling the tale of a Homeric or biblical hero. Again, what is Boccaccio's intention?

I believe Boccaccio simply wants to glorify his craft and compel society to help him. Any great civilization focuses on its heroes rather than its sins. When that society's sins fall to its heros, men propagating glory must intervene lest the mythical illusion fade. Therefore, rather than reading a true biography of a man; composed of astounding accomplishments, shameful flaws and vulnerabilities, we read of a legend whose fellow man jabbed a spear into his side but to whom they should all aspire to emulate.

[Fra' Emme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vbb, io cinque stelle gliele do perché è Giovannuzzo mio, ma ci sono degli errori, delle cose che non vanno. Non cita le fonti, sbaglia le date (il De Vulgari Eloquentia e il Convivio mica li scrive poco prima di morire, Dante, Giova', che mi combini, bastava controllare un attimo su Wikipedia), insomma, si apprezza l'impegno ma si poteva fare di meglio.
Ma poi, quella sparata contro Gemma Donati, Boccacciuzzo adorato, ma che t'ha fatto di male?
Daje, su.

[Justin Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish there was a better biography of Dante. At least this is entertaining, and short.

[Castles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t really “review” a book of this kind but I’ll just say I found the dream about the peacock that Boccaccio describes very interesting (I wonder what Freud would think about that).

I also owe a lot to the added text, the epilogue, in the edition I’ve read, which shed some light about the context of the book, the fact that Petrarch pretty or much patronized Dante when Boccaccio introduced him his books, and more details which were very enlightening. Of course, one of the most important of them is that one should read this book as literature and not as a serious academic biography of Dante, having so much academic research since Boccaccio’s times (yet it’s important to understand the endless admiration Boccaccio had for Dante).

I’ve read the Decameron around the time the Corona virus started its course to change our life, let’s hope that this second book of Boccaccio that I read will put the COVID virus back to where it came from.

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably not really historical accurate (though he still had access to many primary sources or could even speak to people who had actually known Dante). But then like another reviewer also stated. This is probably not a book about Dante, but about what Boccaccio thought about Dante. But whatever it is or what the author intended. People do not write or speak like this anymore. Even in an English translation, this is a piece of writing of exceptional beauty.

Of the three traditional Tuscan Poets / Writers, Boccaccio is often regarded as the lesser and Dante & Petrarch re held in much higher esteem. From the style in this book, one could wonder if this is a fair judgement.

The book also contents extracts from other writers such as Villani and Bruni (another admirer of Dante).

[Eleanor Sullivan]

I want to love something as much as Boccaccio loves Dante

I also don’t appreciate having to read this entire biography between class sessions

[Marcos Augusto · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a tone of high and almost religious praise of the work of Dante, and, although the first pages, where Dante's love for Beatrice is touched, have a delicately fictional flavor, modern Dante criticism has recognized in the work a few authentic information drawn from oral tradition and learned from the hands of people who had known Alighieri.

But the recasting of the biographical material was certainly not cautious and positive, and around the figure of the divine poet vibrates like a halo of legend conforming to the ideal type that, in Alighieri, Boccaccio outlines and honors as the first, august and heroic lover of poetry and science. Thus the Trattatello is no less a praise of Dante than a praise of poetry. Loyal to medieval aesthetics is the criterion for which Boccaccio places the greatness and beauty of poetry in the intimate bond of this with philosophy.

The praise of wisdom and erudition, adhering to the intimately secular spirit of Dante's Convivio, and an expression of fresh enthusiasm for classical erudition.

Characteristic, because taken up later by the humanists, is the discussion of the reason for the use, in the Comedy, of the vulgar instead of the Latin: a discussion that Boccaccio closes by resorting, in essence, to Dante's justification, already put forward for his Convivio, on the decadence of liberal studies, the knowledge of Latin limited to literati only, the scarce usefulness of a poem written in Latin, and the consequent need, for Dante, to write his poem in a style suited to the modern senses.

[Genevieve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome little biography, especially because while it is the first written biography of Dante, Boccaccio goes off on his own little rants about politics, poetry, wives, etc. He is very critical of Dante's wife for distracting him from his writing, and rants, "Who does not know that everything which is bought is tried by the purchaser before he buys it, except a wife?"

[Lilit Khachatryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Actually this book is not about Dante, it's about what Boccaccio thinks about Dante.

[Matilda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boccaccio was a little bit too in love with Dante.

[Marko Vasić · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bokačo ovde ne koristi one hladne, faktografske rečenice biografa, nego u prvi plan stavlja svoj poetični izraz. Zbog toga se i čitav traktat čita, čini se, u jednom dahu. Doduše, naslućuje se poprilična njegova ostrašćenost prema Danteu koji u nekim delovima ide do apoteoze, ali ne smeta, naprotiv: na primer – Bokačo Danteovo poreklo vodi da je od Frangipania, jedne od loza potomaka osnivača Rima. Neki su podaci netačni (uzmimo u obzir da je ova knjiga objavljena oko 1360. godine), što su potonji biografi, npr. Paget Toynbee, (čiju knjigu trenutno „bistrim“) citirajući Bokača primetili i ispravili te greške. Deo u kome Bokačo govori o susretu Dantea sa Beatričom, o čemu i sâm Dante, mada drugačijim tonom, govori u Vita Nuova mi je jedan od najpoetičnijih: „U vrijeme, kad blago podneblje svojim ukrasima zaodijeva zemlju, i svu je čarobnom čini šarenilom cvijeća sred zelenog lišća, bijaše običaj u našemu gradu, da ljudi i žene, svaki u svome kraju, priređuju svečanosti u uglednu društvu. Tako je među ostalima slučajno Folco Portinari, čovjek u ono vrijeme veoma ugledan među građanima, bio okupio prvoga dana mjeseca svibnja obližnje susjede u svoju kuću na svečanost, a među njima je bio i već spomenuti Alighieri. Njega je pratio Dante, koji još nije bio navršio devetu godinu, jer su maleni dječaci običavali pratiti očeve, a naročito na svečanosti; i pomiješavši se tamo među svoje vršnjake, kojih je bilo mnogo u kući svečara, pošto su blagovali, stao se Dante s ostalima djetinjski zabavljati onim, što je njegovo mlado doba moglo da radi. Među mnoštvom djece bila je i kćerka gore spomenutog Folca, kojoj je bilo ime Bice, premda ju je otac uvijek po osnovnom obliku zvao. tj. Beatrice. Bilo joj je oko osam godina.“ O Danteovom stvarnom braku i četvoro dece, Bokačo tek poneku smernicu daje. Glagoljiv je, međutim, o Danteovim posmrtnim počastima i o epitafu koji je Giovanni del Virgillio, Danteov prijatelj, napisao na njegovom grobu. Takođe, ostrašćeno prekoreva Firencu i njene građane za nepravdu koju su Danteu progonstvom načinili i što mu nije dozvoljen povratak u rodni grad, već se njegov grob, i dan danas nalazi u Raveni. Upečatljiv mi je njegov opis Danteove fizionomije iz mladosti, gde pominje da je nosio crnu, kovrdžavu bradu, što se ni na jednoj bisti koje ga prikazuju u poznijem dobu, na kojima se uočava njegov orlovski nos i kolerično-melanholično povijene usne ne vidi, kao ni na posmrtnoj maski. U poslednjem segmentu, izlistao je Danteov literarni učinak i ukazao koliki je njegov značaj u italijanskoj ali i svetskoj književnoj baštini, budući da je prvi počeo da koristi tzv. narodni jezik da na njemu piše svoja dela, kako bi bila svakome dostupna.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

The life of Dante
Jennifer Garcia
The life of Dante revolves around what Dante was trying to provoke from his writing since he writes poetry. He wants people to see a different light that he sees when he writes poetry although it might be complicated to understand it is still worth reading. Because after reading it a few times you will be able to understand what exactly is being said even if the words are used in an old-fashioned way. However, it is not Dante writing about it, but Boccaccio is writing about his life and who he thought was Dante. I did not find that entertaining since he was not someone who knew Dante even though he goes through politics, wives, poetry, etc. in the book. It would have been better written if it were by someone who knew Dante to make it seem like the whole book is true. “What might he have become if he and as much to help him, or nothing working against him, or very few hindrances as many have?” (30) This book is a book being written by a fanboy that praises whatever work Dante may have done to the point you cannot tell which is fake or not. “Therefore, not without reason, our Dante fervently desired such an honour, or rather such a testimony of ability as that is to those who become worthy of having their brows thus adorned.” (56) If he did not involve himself too emotionally in the book and make it sound like he is in love with him it would have sounded good and easier to read. Also, he goes on about his attitudes and his view of Dante. More like an essay than a biography then he hurries through Dante’s life taking out important facts like when he was accused of corruption and financial wrongdoing which caused him to be exiled from Florence. Then there is a difference between poetry and theology, and he provides information that may not be true at all and just says everyone says so like it was a rumor, and he went with it. “Therefore, although the two forms of writing do not look to the same end, but only to a single method of treatment, they may be both be given the same praise, using the word of Pope Gregory the Great.” But overall, it was interesting to see a different side of a writer and their own story.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 // 1360: “In her dream she was under a lofty laurel tree in a green meadow and here she felt herself give birth to a son. The son fed only upon the berries [poetry] which fell from the laurel tree, and drinking the waters of the clear spring [philosophy], seemed to her to become a shepherd.

Then striving with all his might to lay hold of the leaves of the laurel tree whose fruit had fed him he seemed to her to fall, and on rising, to have become no longer a man but a peacock.”

Though this dream was not then understood by Bella Abati, it is now clear to all, what, and whom, followed.

She gave birth to that son, which they named Dante (Italian Durante; ‘giver, steadfast, enduring, everlasting’).

“This was that Dante of whom I write. This was that Dante who was granted to our age by the special grace of God. This was that Dante who was destined to be the first to open the way for the return to Italy of the banished Muses. By him the glory of the Florentine idiom was made manifest. By him all the beauties of our common speech were set to a fitting rhythm. By him dead poetry may properly be said to have been revived.”

How Boccaccio packs this much into 78 short pages is nothing short of divine. Life of Dante is a delve into that life and beyond—exploring family roots and pre-Alighieri history, love, exile, poetry, literature, marriage, philosophy, theology, society, and all of which forged one Dante Alighieri.

“Boccaccio’s Life of Dante may well be considered the first modern literary biography. It is certainly the first biography of Dante, and the source of many of the facts upon which later biographers have drawn.”

Excited to reread Comedy and notice the break at Canto 7 of Inferno (when Dante was exiled and work temporarily lost) or the drop off from Canto 20 of Paradiso (last 13 Cantos origins spotty if not for the wraith of Dante in a dream). Hot take: Makes me wonder if Dante in-fact completed the Comedy or if someone else did.

Weigh in.

Say hi on IG @nonfictionfervor or @jux.booksbinge

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boccaccio’s work is more of an essay than what we would understand as a biography. He hurries through the events of Dante’s life, omitting many significant facts such as why Dante was exiled from Florence. He often digresses on themes of interest to him, such as how unreasonable women are ( “And no man may live his life in safety when he has committed himself to any woman who thinks she has good cause to be angry with him. And they all think so.”) or the difference between poetry and theology. We also rarely know the sources for his information, which is dismissed as ‘everyone says so’ or ‘we don’t know who said this but it doesn’t matter’.

Nevertheless, this approach itself offers a lot of insight into what aspects Boccaccio finds most important in his hero’s life. He passionately defends Dante’s political involvement and accuses Florence of shameful neglect. He describes Dante’s passion for Beatrice, and succinctly describes Dante’s literary works in both Latin and the vernacular. The work is beautifully written, often amusing, and full of life.

[Emma Orazietti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man, oh man. I read this after finishing Dante's Inferno, because I wanted more context on Dante's life. There is little recorded information on his family, wife and children, and my research led me to this book. It is essentially a fanboy of Dante giving a very skewed account of Dante's life. In some ways there is some close to factual information; in other regards, I cross-referenced articles that challenge the timelines he presents. Specifically for Beatrice and his marriage to Gemma Donati. The sheer misogyny in his chapter on love of Beatrice and marriage to Gemma is insane, and upon speaking to men about the comments he made in the latter part of the chapter and how the themes are still relevant today, it makes me concerned to say the least.

[I Don’t Snore Loud Or At All · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can see how much Boccaccio idolizes Dante, the whole book is somewhat full of praises by him. It’s pretty interesting to read a biography about someone written by a guy who pretty much lives at the same period as he, you get a sense of different perspectives of what people thought of him at the time (well it’s pretty bias if we’re talking about Boccaccio here).
Anyways, Boccaccio also made a LOT of opinions about Dante’s wife, like calm down oke. He also begged for forgiveness when he wants to share some negative things about Dante.
We get it, Boccaccio. We get it

[Júlia Hardmeier · Rating 2 out of 5]

When you read a biography written by a fanboy, you should know what to expect: praises to the highest of heavens up to the point that you wouldn't know what is true and what is a hyperbole. All that being said, and apart of the not so easy to read style, it was a good short glimpse into the life of Dante. Also some interesting points about poetry as an art from the late medieval points of view of Boccaccio. Not bad.

[John Rossington · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a biography of Dante. It is Boccaccio's view of the life of Dante. It is well written but at times it is a polemic. At times it is deeply misogynistic with women irrationally blamed for some of Dante's problems. A good knowledge of classical mythology will help the reader appreciate the text. The author loves a sweeping statement such as "Theology and poetry can be considered the same thing" I think many readers might well disagree.

[Ray LaManna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The very first biography of Dante ever written. Boccaccio was seven years old when Dante died, so he wrote a near-contemporary life. Good insights, especially into why Dante wrote the Divine Comedy in the vernacular Italian instead of Latin... and thank God for that, since he essentially gave us the contemporary Italian language.

[Fernanda Palhari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Como o próprio tradutor lembra, temos que ficar atentos para o que aconteceu na vida de Dante e o que é usado por Boccaccio para criar seu mito. De toda forma, dá pra aprender bastante sobre a vida do poeta! Gostaria apenas que a parte sobre suas obras fosse um pouco mais extensa e com mais detalhes.

[Raquel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Muito bem escrito, traça uma visão romântica da vida do gigante italiano, um verdadeiro profeta da idade média.

[Sam]

Fun read, especially the part at the end where he details all the reasons that Dante is a peacock (really).

[Maan Kawas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this biography of Dante by Boccaccio!

[Wilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for anyone who likes Dante('s writings). However, not to be read uncritically.