Dante Alighieri - Newburgh, New York
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 41° 30.218 W 074° 00.530
18T E 582721 N 4595141
A bust of Italian poet Dante Alighieri is located outside the Newburgh Public Library at 124 Grand Street.
Waymark Code: WMY8FG
Location: New York, United States
Date Posted: 05/10/2018
Views: 0
A 3.5' by 2.75' by 2.75' bronze bust of the preeminent Italian poet Dante Alighieri rests on an 7' by 5.33' by 4.5' tapered granite base surrounded by an iron fence. Dante is depicted from the mid-chest up. He is wearing a high collar shirt unbuttoned at the bottom. On his head he wears a cap with a wreath, a symbol of his accomplishment as a poet.
The bust was sculpted by Paolo Salvatore Abbate and cast at the Roman Bronze Works foundry. It was a gift of the the Italian Colony, a.k.a. the Sons of Italy, and dedicated on October 12, 1921.
On the front of the base is the inscription:
TO
THE MEMORY OF
DANTE ALIGHIERI
POET OF THE ETERNITIES
THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED
ON THE VI CENTENARY OF HIS DEATH
BY
THE CITIZENS OF NEWBURGH
OCTOBER XII MCMXXI
UNDER THE AUSPICES OF
THE ITALIAN COLONY
On the back of the base is the inscription:
RESTORED BY
NEWBURGH
CHAPTER
UNICO
OCTOBER 12, 1986
Dante Alighieri was born in the City of Florence in Republic of Florence about 1265. As a young man he he studied Tuscan poetry and the Provençal poetry of the troubadours, such as Arnaut Daniel, and the Latin writers of classical antiquity, including Cicero, Ovid and Virgil.
Dante is best known for writing the epic poem The Divine Comedy between 1308 and 1320. The poem is considered to be one of the greatest works in world literature. It is divided into three parts: Inferno - Purgatorio - Paradiso. It's imaginative Medieval world view of the afterlife has had a profound influence to this day.
Other works by Dante include:
Convivio (1304 and 1307)
Eclogues (1319 -1320)
De Monarchia (1312 - 1313) - banned by the church in 1585
Le Rime (1296)
La Vita Nuova (1295)
De vulgari eloquentia (1302 - 1305)