Teodoro Forcellini, Fonti teologiche francescane della ‘Commedia’ di Dante, Spoleto, Fondazione Centro italiano di studi sull’alto Medioevo, 2018, pp. xiii-243 («Medioevo francescano», 36)

Teodoro Forcellini's volume on the Franciscan theological sources of the Divine Comedy demonstrates how Dante profoundly assimilated the thought of Bonaventura da Bagnoregio, through other sources such as the Pseudo-Areopagite, the Legenda maior, and the Arbor vitae. The canto of Saint Francis is interpreted as an emblem of "nothing-like wisdom" ("sapienza nulliforme), while complex passages, such as the "gate of pleasure" in Par. XI, find new light through comparison with Bonaventure's texts. Forcellini also draws parallels between Dante's episodes and Franciscan models, such as Provenzano Salvani's gesture of mendicancy compared to Saint Francis's renunciation at San Damiano, and explores the figures of Ulysses and Guido da Montefeltro as negative reversals of the saint, marked by a misleading "ingenium" similar to that of the false prophets denounced by Ubertino da Casale. Finally, the appendices illustrate the relevance of the letter to the Galatians and the raptus Pauli as a model for Dante's otherworldly journey, filtered through the Franciscan theological tradition. In conclusion, the reviewed work integrates and enriches previous research, such as that of Mazzucchi (2008), revealing the dense network of Franciscan references that underpin the Comedy.