DANTI
633
DANTINE
n.inir (last eil., Oxford. 1905); Wicksteed. Oelsner, Oket,
an 1 Howell in The Temple Classics, Dante, tr. of all the works,
v.uli lt-ili:in tpxt^j c.f Divina Commedia, Vila Nuova, Canzoniere
,., !;,,:<.. iiihl inll .iimmentaries (London, 1899-1906). Edi-
th. i,~ 1 I ,'1 lommedia: Scartazzini, La D. C. riufdiita
U'l ' ' . . ('a. a.nd Prohgom^ni (4 vols., Leipzig, 1874-
is'.iii.; U I -M. K i,-i.jnc minore (2nd ed.. Milan, 1896); Casini,
/..I U. C. cun cummenlu (5th ed., Florence, 1895); Bdtleh, The
//. a. Purgatory, Paradise, edited with translations and notes
il i.iidon, 1885); Vernon, Readings on the Inferno, Purga-
i.'ii,<. Paradise (London, 1894); (Lord) Vernon and
I'wizzl, Le prime quatlro edizioni della D. C. letteralmente
T^sl, impale (London, 1858). Crititial editions of minor works:
\\ 1 TTK, De Monarchiil (Leipzig, 1874); Rajna, De Vulgari
El'"ju,ntid (Florence, 1896); Barbi, Vita Nuora (Florence,
1907); Wicksteed, Eclogues in Dante and Giovanni del
Virgilio (London, 1901); Albini, Dantis Bclogw (Florence,
1903).
Dictionaries and Concordances: Toynbee, A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante (Ox- ford, 1898); PoLETTO, Dizionario Dantesco (Siena, 1885-87); Fay, Concordance of the Divina Commedia (Cambridge, Massa- chusetts, 1888, and London, 1894); Sheldon and White, Concordanza delle Opere Itatianc in prosa e del Canzoniere di Dante Alighieri (O.xford, 1905). Introductory: Gardner, A Dante Primer (London, 19()0). General: Benvendto da Imola, Comentum super Dantis Aldigherii Cormtdiam, ed. Vernon and Lacaita (Florence, 1887); Berthier, La D. C. con commenti secomio In Scolastica (Freiburg, 1892); Gardner, Dante's Ten Hemrns (2nd ed.. London and New York, 1900); Hettinger. Dante's D. C. Its Scope and Value, ed. Bowden (London, 1S87); Kraus, Dante, sein Leben und sein Werk (Berlin, 1897); Del LnNoo, DeW Esilio di Dante (Florence, 1881); Idem, Dal S,-colo e dal Pocma di Dante (Bologna, 1898); MooRK. T,Tl,„il Criticism of the D. C. (Camhn^We. lSS9i: Idem. -', ,: Ihinie (3 vols., Oxford, 1VM,-I;in:; . ; ilh.i,
L'ulu- Dante Alighieri' iUOan. l^l , - i.
Alci'in ,' \) biografia di Dante (Tuiui. 1^'m, , \\ i i.
stem., /' / -r'y /.iiYso/ Dante (London and S'-w ^,>|L, l^illli; WiTTE, I':s.-,n!/s iin Dante, tr. and ed. Lawrence and Wick- steed (London, 1898), a selection from Dante-Forschungen (Halle and Hcilbronn, 1867-79); Zingarelli, Dante (Milan, 1903). History of Dante's Times: W. F. Butler, The Lam- hard Communes (London, 1906); Del Lcngo, Dino C&mpagni e la sua Cronica (Florence, 1879-87); Villari, / primi due secoli della Storia di Firenze (new ed., Florence, 1905), tr. of earlier edition (London, 1901); Wicksteed and 8elfe, Vil- lani's Chronicle, selections (2nd ed., London, 1906).
Contemporary Literature: Rossetti, Early Italian Poets (or Dante and His Circle) (1861); Gaspari, Italian Literature to the Death of Dante, tr. and ed. Oelsner (London, 1901). The translations of Cary and Lo-ngfellow have been instru- mental in familiarizing English and American readers with the Divina Commedia: the best recent versions are those of NoRTO.N and Haselfoot; Carlyle's prose-rendering of the Inferno is particularly meritorious. Among translations of the minor works, other than those included in the above lists. Cmitrch's of the De Monarchid and Latham's of the Letters call for special notice. Edmund G. Gardner.
Danti, Ignazio, mathematician and cosmographer,
b. at Perugia, Italy, 1537; d. at Alatri, 19 Oct., 1586.
As a boy he learned the rudiment.s of painting and
architecture from liLs father and aunt, but mathemat-
ics and science were his favorite studies. He received
the Dominican habit 7 March, 1555, changing his bap-
tismal name Pellegrino to Ignazio. After completing
his philosophy and theology he gave some time to
lireaching. but soon devoted himself zealously to
m;ithematics, astronomy, and geography. About
15(>7 he w,as invited to Florence by Cosmo I, Duke of
Tuscany, who wished to avail himself of his services in
reviving mathematical and astronomical studies in his
newly acquired dominion. About the same time Pope
Sixtus V, who belonged to the Order of Preachers. Ls
said to have commissioned him to furnish plans for the
construction of a Dominican church and convent at
Hosco. During his stay in Florence Danti taught
mathematics with much success and may be said to
have prepared the way for Galileo and his contem-
poraries. He resided at the convent of Sta Mariii
Novella, and designed the first gnomon on the
faijade of its church in 157'2. He was chosen to direct
the building of a canal which was to place Florence in
commimication with both the Mediterranean and the
Adriatic. Cosmo did not live to carry out his project
and .shortly after his death (1574) Danti became jiro-
fessor of mathematics at the University of Bologna.
While occupying this chair he spent .some time in his
native city, at the invitation of the governor, where
he prepared maps of the Perugian republic.
On accoimt of his mathematical attainments Greg-
ory XIII invited him to Rome, appointed him pon-
tifical mathematician and made him a member of the
commission for the reform of the calendar. He also
placed him in charge of the painters whom he had
summoned to the Vatican to continue the work so
brilliantly begun by Raphael during the reign of Leo
X and at the same time desired him to make a mmiber
of maps of ancient and modern Italy. When the
pontiff commissioned the architect Kontana to repair
the Claudian harbour it was Danti who furnished the
necessary plan-s. While at Rome Danti published a
translation of a portion of Euclid with annotations
and wrote a life of the architect Vignola, preparing akso
notes for the latter's work on perspective. In recog-
nition of his labours Gregory, in 1.583, made him Bishop
of Alatri in the Campagna. Danti showed himself a
zealous pastor in his new office. He convoked a dio-
cesan synod, corrected many abuses, and .showed
great solicitude for the poor. Shortly before his death
Sixtus V simimoned him to Rome to ussisi in the erec-
tion of the grand obelisk in the piazza I'l iIm \;ilic:in.
Besides the works already mentioned. Iimiii was the
author of "Trattato del' u.so e della fabbrica dell' a.s-
trolabo con la giunta del planifero del Raja"; "Le
Scienze matematiche ridotte in tavole", also a revised
,1 iid ;i nil. )tated edition of " La Sfera di Messer G. Sacro-
1" -cii I r.ulotta da Pier Vincenzio Danti".
Toi.i, Ehifiio di Ignazio Danti in Onuscoli Letterari
ls2fn. TIT; Tim M in Biografia degli Scrittori Perugini
sjs 1, iiii".; Mmichese, Aicmarie dei piii insigni Pit- . 1,. ■ • ' , llomenicani (Bologna, 1879), II, 351, -. (iiuMiii, ls.-,2.)
H. M. Brock.
ViNCENZO Danti, sculptor, brother of Ignazio, b. at
Perugia, 1530 ; d. 24 May, 157(i. He also enjoyed some
reputation as a goldsmith, a military architect, and a
poet. The statue of Pope Julius III on the cathedral
square at Perugia is one of his early works. Later he
modelled the "Decapitation of St. John the Baptist"
over the south portal of the baptistery at Florence, and
finished Andrea Sansovino's noble group of the "Bap-
t ism of Christ" over the east gate of the same baptistery.
He competed against Cellini and Gian Bologna for the
statue of Neptime in the fountain of Piazza della
Signoria, which was ultimately given to an inferior
artist, and he executed a marble group at the entrance
to the Boboli Gardens in Florence, a youth raising
and attempting to carry an old man bound hand and
foot. This is supposed to be an allegory of the victory
of honesty over deceit.
LiiBKE, History of .'Sculpture (tr. London. 1872); Perkins. Handbook of Italian Sculpture (New York. 1883).
M. L. Handley.
Dantine, Maurus, Benedictine of the Congrega- tion of Saint-Maur, and chronologist, b. at Gourieux near N.amur, Belgium, 1 April, 1688: d. in the mon- asterj' of the " Blancs-Manteaux ", Paris, 3 November, 1746. Like many of the members of his congregiition he was one of the so-called Appdnnts who in 1713 did not accept the Bull "Unigenitus", but appealed to a general council. Dantine's chief merit is the work he did in chronology; he can, in reality, bo called one of the founders of this important liranch of history, on account of the carefully elaborated plan he drew up for the great |)ublication: " L'Art de vt'-rifier les dates historiques, des chartes, des chroniques et autres monuments, depuis la nai.ssance de J.-C. ". He did most of the prejiaratory work for this publication, coiLstructing more exact chronological tables and in- troducing a better method for calculating historical dates. On account of illness, however, lie was not able to continue his labours and w.as obliged to leave their comjiletion to other members of his order, his chief successor being Cleiiieiicet. Besides this, he de- voted himself to thorough linguistic studies and as a
