Epistle to Cangrande

The Epistle XIII to Cangrande della Scala (Italian: Epistola XIII a Cangrande della Scala) is a letter of disputed authenticity sent by Dante Alighieri to his patron, Cangrande I della Scala.^[1][2]

Epistle to Cangrande
Epistola a Cangrande
Copy of the Epistle to Cangrande
Full title	Epistle XIII to Cangrande della Scala
Ascribed to	Dante Alighieri
Dedicated to	Cangrande della Scala
Language	Latin
Date	before 1343
Authenticity	Disputed
Genre	Epistle
Subject	Meaning of the Divine Comedy

Date

The exact date that the letter was written is unknown. The letter was cited by the Italian copyist Andrea Lancia [it] in 1343 and then by the chronicler Filippo Villani around 1400. Some authors have suggested that Jacopo della Lana [it] cited the letter in the 1320s, but this is disputed.^[3]

Content

The letter is divided into three parts: A dedication to Cangrande I della Scala, an accessus or introduction, and an exposition of the Divine Comedy.^[3]

Authenticity

...the paternity of the Epistle has been for some time a political football in Dante studies. It is a talismanic topic, and by revealing one's position with regard to the paternity of the Epistle, one potentially reveals a host of other vested interests and beliefs^[4]: 140

 – Teodolinda Barolini

The question of whether or not the Epistle is a forgery is controversial among Dante scholars. Scholars such as Henry Ansgar Kelly and Bruno Nardi [it] have argued against its authenticity, whereas scholars such as Francesco Mazzoni [it], Robert Hollander, and Charles Singleton have argued that the document is authentic.^[3][5][4] Kelly specifically contends that Dante wrote the dedication but the rest of the letter was written by a "Pseudo-Dante".^[3] The academics Ralph G. Hall and Madison U. Sowell have suggested that American scholars are more likely to accept the Epistle as authentic while British and Italian scholars are more likely to consider it a forgery.^[6]: 144 John Ciardi, who wrote a translation of the Divine Comedy, argued that the framework provided by the letter is useful regardless of its authenticity.^[7] The scholar Teodolinda Barolini has described the Epistle as a red herring, writing that "frankly, I don't care if the Epistle is Dante's or not, since I think the answers that I seek regarding the [Divine Comedy] are to be found in the poem itself."^[4]: 143

In 2019, researchers for the Italian Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione attempted to use machine learning to determine authorship of the Epistle. Their results supported the theory that it was forged, however the authors noted that their study "should not be considered conclusive".^[8]: 5