Nel segno di Francesco De Sanctis: Di alcuni caratteri meno popolari della Divina Commedia di Francesco Muscogiuri

This paper examines a short essay by Francesco Muscogiuri, entitled Di alcuni caratteri meno popolari della Divina Commedia, published in Florence in 1889. Here the author, who had been a pupil of Francesco De Sanctis at the University of Naples, analyzes three figures from Dante's poem, Guido da Montefeltro, Belacqua and Piccarda Donati, trying to highlight their "characters". The essay retraces the main points of this study, which deserves to be remembered in the panorama of Dante's criticism of the late nineteenth century because it is one of the few who remain faithful to the method and overall interpretation of the Commedia offered by De Sanctis in a period of clear prevalence of the "historical school", as we try to demonstrate.