SOURCE: Costa, Elio. “From locus amoris to Infernal Pentecost: The Sin of Brunetto Latini.” Quaderni d'italianistica 10, nos. 1-2 (1989): 109-32.

In the following essay, Costa investigates the main philosophical and literary themes of The Little Treasure in relation to Dante's evocation of Brunetto in his Inferno, maintaining that Dante's condemnation of Brunetto was mainly based upon his opposing view of Florentine politics.

The fame of Brunetto Latini was until recently tied to his role in Inferno 15 rather than to the intrinsic literary or philosophical merit of his own works.¹ Leaving aside, for the moment, the complex question of Latini's influence on the author of the Commedia, the encounter, and particularly the words “ché 'n la mente m' è fitta, e or m'accora, / la cara e buona imagine paterna / di voi quando nel mondo ad ora ad ora / m'insegnavate come l'uom s'etterna” (82-85) do seem to acknowledge a profound debt by...