The statue that protected Dante's sarcophagus returns to Ravenna after 160 years

On the occasion of the exhibition Dante. The Eyes and the Mind. The Arts at the Time of Exile, which will be staged in the Church of San Romualdo in Ravenna from April 24 to July 4, 2021 under the curatorship of Massimo Medica, the Madonna Enthroned with Child will return to Ravenna after about 160 years. Directly from the Louvre in Paris. Another significant work that adds to the prestigious Giottesque loans from the Uffizi Galleries.

The sculpture originally protected the sarcophagus of the Supreme Poet. After his death between Sept. 13 and 14, 1321, following his last diplomatic venture on behalf of da Polenta of Ravenna in Venice, Dante was buried in a small chapel leaning against the wall of the convent of San Francesco in Ravenna, formerly known as the Chapel of the Madonna because of the presence of an ancient Marian image identified by the scholar Corrado Ricci with the one now preserved in the Louvre Museum, in fact coming from Ravenna.

Following several transformations of Dante’s tomb and reconstruction by architect Camillo Morigia, the statue was removed completely and traces of it were lost until, around 1860, it was purchased in Ravenna by French collector and Baron Jean-Charles Daviller (Rome, 1823-Paris, 1883), who donated it to the Louvre Museum in 1884.

It is an undisputed masterpiece made of marble, datable to the late 13th and early 14th centuries, which returns for the occasion to its city of origin, documenting its relevance to the Byzantine tradition, revisited, however, according to an already entirely Western and Gothic sensibility. A plaster cast of the work, donated to the city in 1921 by the French government on the occasion of the solemn celebrations of the sixth centenary of Alighieri’s death, can still be found in the Dante Museum in Ravenna. Thehigh relief depicts the Virgin seated on a throne elegantly draped in the antique style, while the Child, blessing with his right hand and depicted as an authoritative teacher, holds the scroll of Holy Scripture with his left hand.

The exhibition Dante. The Eyes and the Mind. The Arts at the Time of Exile is promoted by the Municipality of Ravenna, Department of Culture and organized by MAR - Museo d?Arte della Città di Ravenna also thanks to the valuable contribution of the Fondazione del Monte di Bologna e Ravenna, the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce and the Emilia-Romagna Region.

Image: Venetian-Ravenna master, Madonna Enthroned with Child (late 13th century; marble, 93.5 x 51.5 x 1.95 cm; Paris, Louvre)

The statue that protected Dante's sarcophagus returns to Ravenna after 160 years

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