Alphonse de Lamartine - Note sur le Dante [copie manuscrite d'époque] - 1856

The “Note on Dante” by Alphonse de Lamartine was first published in the newspaper Le Siècle on December 10, 1856, before serving as the basis for his substantial developments on Dante Alighieri in his periodic critical collection, the Cours familier de littérature (1857).

Context and Content Publication: Initially published in the press (Le Siècle) at a time when Lamartine published his monthly literary interviews alone.

Critical perspective: Lamartine offers a nuanced view, sometimes severe and iconoclastic, of the Divine Comedy, which he admires for its formal genius and poetic power, but critiques for its theology of vengeance and its medieval dark aspects that run counter to his own vision of a God wholly merciful and to a spiritually Romantic sensibility.

Reaction: This text provoked strong polemics and refutations in Italy, notably from the writer and critic Niccolò Tommaseo.