matelda in the terrestrial paradise

8/12/2019 Matelda in the Terrestrial Paradise

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Matelda in the Terrestrial Paradise

Diana Glenn

(Flinders University)

ABSTRACT

This analysis of the enigmatic figure of Matelda, guardian of the Terrestrial Paradise in

Dante'sPurgatorio, considers both the unresolved question of Matelda's historical identity, in

articular !hether Dante is alluding to the historical ersonage, "ountess Matilda of Tuscany

(#$%##), and the numerous critical glosses that have emerged over the years, !hereby

Matelda has been interreted as a symbolic figure, for eamle, as the biblical tyology of the

active*contemlative life, as the reresentation of human !isdom, or in a variety of other

symbolic guises+

hilst alluding to recognisable idyllic oetic images, such as thedonna angelicataof the

vernacular tradition, Dante's concetualisation of Matelda is nevertheless aligned to the

ilgrimoet's o!n develoment in viaof a redemtive oetics in !hich the !riter articulates

an urgent message of reform, at both the secular and ecclesiastical levels+ The lin-ing of

Matelda !ith the notion of the loss of the relasarian state of human-ind's innocence and her

suervision of the enitential cleansing rites erformed on Danterotagonist, in anticiation

of his ascent to Paradise in the comany of .eatrice, reresent crucial moments in Dante's

maing out of rudential history for his readers and his call for a recovery of "hristian

values+

Dante's ortrayal of the figure of Matelda in the Terrestrial Paradise has been variously

interreted as an image of rimeval innocence, as the donna angelicataof the stilnovistic

tradition, as the biblical tyology of the active*contemlative life or as a reresentation of

human !isdom+/#0 1o!ever, any attemt to address the question of Matelda's historical

identity is fraught !ith difficulty since no scholar !ho has entered the minefield of debate on

this elusive figure has, to date, rovided an indisutable and convincing solution to the

mystery of her true identity+ 2rguably, the matter may be left in susense !ith no ill effect on

the character !ho aears in Dante's oem+ 3evertheless, !ith a number of hyotheses in

circulation, not to mention earnest acrosticisms and anagrams of her name as ossible fonts of

truth,/40 modernday Dante scholars entering the critical fray cannot ignore the lethora ofMateldas that emerges from the centuries of dedicated scholarshi+ These dramatis personae

include the celebrated Matilda, "ountess of "anossa -no!n as "ountess Matilda of Tuscany

(#$%##), the visionary 5aon nuns Matilda (or Mechtildis) of 1ac-enborn (d+ #467) and

Matilda of Magdeburg (#4$8#474), 5aint Matilda (c+ 766&7), mother of 9meror :tto ;,

/anna, Mary Magdalen, or the figure of ?ahab+/%0

:n the !hole, the early commentators, !ho !ere -een to sho! an unbro-en attern in

Dante's selection of reallife ersonages, suorted the theory that Dante !as alluding to the

!ealthy and influential "ountess Matilda of Tuscany (#$%##), daughter of .eatrice of
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@orraine+ "ountess Matilda's generosity to the Paal cause at the time of Poe =regory >;; is

!ellremembered and her endo!ment of vast tracts of land to the Paacy during a time of

tension !ith the 9mire enhanced immeasurably its o!er and restige+ 5he !as a maAor

figure in aal and imerial olitics for decadesB an authoritative layer in the ;merialPaal

struggle that culminated in 9meror 1enry ;>'s submission to Poe =regory >;; in #$88+

Through her inheritance, the "ountess acquired large holdings in Tuscany, @iguria,@ombardy, Modena and Ferrara, all of !hich she donated to the 1oly 5ee before her death+

T!icemarried but !ith no issue, "ountess Matilda !as -no!n for her shar intellect,

strength of character and ability to !ield considerable o!er and influence, thus maintaining

a olitical role as an ally to the aacy !ithout relinquishing her autonomy+

;n echoing the name of "ountess Matilda, could Dante be suggesting the authority of

an influential olitical figureC :ne might argue that the choice of a strongly artisan historical

figure such as "ountess Matilda contrasts !ith Dante's universal olitical theorising since the

"ountess' bequests of territory could be comared to the damaging effects of the Donation of

"onstantine and the notion of the acquisition of temoralities in the "hurch Equella dote * che

da te rese il rimo ricco atreE (Inf+ G;G, ###8)+/0 1o!ever, according to HoanFerrante, "ountess Matilda acted in good faith E@eaving her lands to the church !as a

mista-e, but !ellintentioned, li-e "onstantine's Donation, !hich !as far more harmful but

does not deny him heavenE+/&0 2t the same time "ountess Matilda's resence in the garden

could be interreted as an idealiIed eamle of a olitical leader !ho cooerates !ith but also

maintains her indeendence from "hrist's >icar such that she is not subservient to the

"hurch's dominion and earthly regnum+

;n the early art of last century, a variety of critical oinion suorted the vie! that

Matelda !as based on the historical E5ignora di "anossaE as 2lfonso .ertoldi terms her, /80

!hile .runo 3ardi asserts that the un!illingness of some modernday critics to endorse

"ountess Matilda as a candidate for identification as the figure in the garden is related to the

discovery of later historical evidence suorting her allegiance to the Poe+/70 Hohn 5cott

observes E.y introducing the Pilgrim to the triumhal rocession, and to .eatrice, Matelda

offers him a vision of the right relationshi bet!een the active life and the "hurch on earthE+

/60 Matelda in 9den could thus be an idealised historical ersonage !ith lin-s to a reform

aacy+/#$0 Mindful of such ossibilities, Dante's creation of a character dra!n from the

formidable ersonal attributes of the "ountess Matilda !ould serve as a !orthy corollary to

.eatrice, !hile signalling that Dante's transitional eerience in Purgatory is closely lin-ed to

his a!areness of the olitical eigencies of his society+ Tetually, ho!ever, an

incontrovertible lin- bet!een Matelda and a !ell-no!n historical character, or the soul of a

erson !ith !hom Dante !as acquainted, remains elusive+/##0

Pitted against the bevy of Mateldas advanced by commentators is the school of critical

thought that maintains that Matelda is a symbolic figure only+ 1ere, too, the theory may be

further divided into three basic oints of vie!

#+ Matelda is lin-ed to @eah inPurgatorioGG>;; (!ho symboliIes the active life)B

4+ Matelda reresents the urifying rites that Dante and all the souls in Purgatory must

undergoB

irgil's relinquishing of the

tas- and .eatrice's assumtion of it+
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@in-ed to the symbolic model is the roosal that Matelda is the ersonification of (i)

Philosohy, that is, theDonna gentileof Dante's imaginative facultyB/#40 (ii) the !isdom of

the :ld Testament (Ecclesiasticus4%%4 andProverbs744enus, !ho falls under the sell of

2donis' beauty after she is ierced accidentally !ith one of "uid's darts (Purg+ GG>;;;, &%

&&)+ Dante, in !anting to reach the side of the river !here Matelda has been gathering fioretti,

states that his desire to be !ith Matelda is comarable to that of the tragic @eander imatient

to Aoin his beloved 1ero a!aiting him on the oosite ban- of the 1ellesont (8$8)+

2lthough the ayfarer demonstrates his eagerness to arta-e of the !onders abounding in the

garden, his desire must be curbed until he has been fully reared and instructed by the lady+

;nPurgatorioGG>;;;, Matelda's lucid elanation of the natural and divine forces at

!or- in the garden (Eche uote disnebbiar vostro intellettoE, 7#), is receded by a classical

analogy !ith Persehone, not imagined in her adult role as Jueen of the Under!orld (Eregina

de l'etterno iantoE,Inf.;G, %%), but ictured in the last moments of her girlhood innocenceAust rior to her -idnaing and forced descent to 2vernus+ Thus Matelda evo-es the notion

of rimordial innocence the young maiden Persehone in the act of gathering sringtime

flo!ers+ Matelda's eository monologue then concludes !ith the corollary that the divina

foresta!as erhas the source of insiration for the oets of antiquity !hen they imagined a

=olden 2ge of rimeval innocence

Juelli ch'anticamente oetaro

l'etde l'oro e suo stato felice,forse in Parnaso esto loco sognaro+Jui fu innocente l'umana radiceB

qui rimavera semre e ogne fruttoB

nettarequesto di che ciascun diceE+(Purg+ GG>;;;, #


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The descrition contains echoes of :vid's lyric evocation of the =olden 2ge in the first boo-

ofMetamorphoses

The earth itself, !ithout comulsion, untouched by the hoe, unfurro!ed by any share,

roduced all things sontaneously /+++0 ;t !as a season of everlasting sring, !hen eaceful

Iehyrs, !ith their !arm breath, caressed the flo!ers that srang u !ithout having beenlanted+ (#$##$irgil and 5tatius to the notion of a agan refiguration of

human-ind's state of hainess and earthly erfection in 9den closely follo!s the

announcement inPurgatorioGG>;; of Dante's liberation from sin (Elibero, dritto e sano tuo arbitrioE, #%$)+ ;n recalling the =olden 2ge of humanity and the !isdom of the ancients,

Matelda is rearing the Pilgrimoet for his o!n eerience of inner Aoy and divine

revelation as one !ho recogniIes that !hile the relasarian state of innocence is lost to

human-ind forever, nevertheless, Dante, after !itnessing the mystical Procession and its

revelations concerning the arlous state of affairs bet!een "hurch and 5tate, !ill relay a

message of hoe and reform to the living+

;n the oening lines of the subsequent canto, Matelda is lin-ed to thepastorellatheme

of Dante's contemoraries, the donna innamorata, and thence to an image from classical

times of nymhs roaming freely through !oodlands

"antando come donna innamorata,

contincol fin di sue arole'Beati quorum tecta sunt peccata!'+

9 come ninfe che si givan sole

er le salvatiche ombre, disandoqual di veder, qual di fuggir lo sole,

allor si mosse contra 'l fiume, andandosu er la rivaB e io ari di lei,

(Purg+ GG;G, #7)

The oening image recalls the !ords of "avalcanti's Ecantava come fosse 'nnamorataE (vs+ 8)

in the oemIn un boschetto trova pasturella+/#&0 ;n his concetualiIation of Matelda and

her role, Dante suggests, in the one eisode, mythological and literary antecedents, the themes

of Parnassus and the =olden 2ge of oetry !ith an allusion to !ell-no!n classical lovers

and elements borro!ed from a familiar contemorary genre and location, the toposof the

Elocus amoenusE+ The bella donnaof Dante's imagination emanates an air of both innocence

and authority and fulfils a secific divinelyaointed tas- since she is invested !ith sueriorintellectual caabilities and a mature -no!ledge of the henomena in the 9arthly Paradise

(Eurgherla nebbia che ti fiedeE, GG>;;;, 6$)+ ;t !ill be Matelda's tas- to clarify Dante'sdoubts regarding the origin of the rivers and the movement of the !ind in the marvellous

garden ato the mountain !hich, as 5tatius has informed him reviously, is not affected by

atmosheric henomena (Purg+ GG;, %


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eression are a source of delight to Dante, an uneected gift of loveliness Edi levar gli occhi

suoi mi fece donoE (GG>;;;, &;;;, 7$7#), and her actions

and ministering to the Pilgrim can be seen as anticiating .eatrice's tas- and her initiation of

Dante to the delights of Paradise+ Thus the figure of Matelda combines an indeendent sirit

and edifying influence !ith an oen eression of divinelyinfused Aoy+

Dante's Matelda has tetual lin-s to both the classical Persehone (rene!al and ne!

life)/#70 and to the .iblical idea of afiguraor an event that reares one for the fulfilment of

another event, since her aearance in the oem is receded by the rohetic dream of @eah,

and her active resence has been interreted as a fulfilment of that dream (Purg+ GG>;;, #$$

#$7)+ The :ld Testament lin-ing of the t!o sisters @eah and ?achel, symbols of the activeand contemlative life, has its counterart in the 3e! Testament !ith the sisters Martha and

Mary+/#60 ;n the midst of gathering flo!ers, both Matelda (as an active resence) and @eah

(in oneiric guise) aear to Dante bathed in the !armth of >enus' reda!n rays+ hilst it is

evident from the tet that Matelda's aearance is lin-ed to the idea of the active life, she is

also engaged in enlightening and suervising the Pilgrim at an intellectual level and, as such,

her significance should not be reduced to that of simle handmaiden to .eatrice+ /4$0 hile

the four maidens from the allegorical rocession are defined as ancelleto .eatrice, Matelda is

erceived as a guardian in the Terrestrial Paradise and is a character in her o!n right !ho

ehibits ersonality traits that are not imoverished in the !a-e of .eatrice's solemn arrival

and the evident seniority of her role+ .eatrice is on friendly terms !ith Matelda but does not

treat her as inferior or subservient+ 5imilarly, the tetual lin- !ith @eah*?achel (and by

analogy Martha*Mary) adds a further dimension only to Matelda's characteriIation, but does

not rovide a definitive gloss on the significance of this animated oetic creation !hose

sublime inner radiance reflects her love of Elo sommo .enE (GG>;;;, 6#)+

hile her hysical beauty suggests traditional oetic models that Dante transcends in

his quest for lalta materaand she insires comarisons !ith classical figures, Matelda retains

a distinct ersonality and demeanour, combining natural virtue and beauty !ith the dignity of

her station as a guardian aointed by =od, but !ho is not, ho!ever, a member of the angelic

caste+ ;f, as .osco and ?eggio assert, Matelda is Eun'idea figurataE, /4#0 she is so !ithin the

contet of a redemtive "hristian oetics, since her characteriIation elores the range fromthe idyllic and astoral !ith stilnovistic overtones, to biblical and mythological references, to

the revelatory and deely ersonal+

Matelda's soothing resence has a restorative, strengthening effect on the Pilgrim !ho

has been cleansed in the searing !all of fire and !hose gro!ing desire to ascend to =od

gathers momentum !ith every assing hour (Purg+ GG>;;, #4##4


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Dante's oetic selfmastery on the eve of >irgil's dearture and .eatrice's arrival, !hen he has

left behind the comany of agan oets and see-s confirmation of his autonomy as a "hristian

oet+ The image of Matelda ertains to Dante's o!n reresentation of the course of eternal

historyB a movement from agan symbols to "hristian symbols+/440 Thus the imortant

enitential cleansing rites erformed on Dante in the flo!ing !aters of 9den and overseen by

Matelda ta-e lace in order that he be freed from the memory of sin (@ethe) and restored to!holeness of being by the memory of virtue (9uno) in anticiation of the aradisiacalEetterna fontanaE in 1eaven (Par+ GGG;, 6


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2quilecchia, 5tehen 3+ "ristea and 5heila ?alhs, Manchester University Press, #68#, +

4%48+

/%0 5ee FiorenIo Forti's entry EMateldaE inEnciclopedia dantesca+ ;;;, ?ome, ;stituto della

9ncicloedia ;taliana, #68$8#, + 7%&$ and 2rmour, EMatelda in 9denE, + %+ 5ee

.enedetto "roce,a poesia di Dante, .ari, @aterIa, #6, + &


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Italian "tudies, 47 (#68ol+ G>;, 3o+ 4 (#64), #


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#&%+ >ariations on the theme of the 2ctive"ontemlative @ife include Maria Francesca

?ossetti,' "hado2 of DanteBeing an Essa& to2ards "tud&ing 3imself+ his 1orld and his

Pilgrimage, Port ashington, 3e! Lor-*@ondon, enni-at Press, #6$# (reissue #6&6), +

#7 Ethe Flo!erculler of 9den, the only ermanent inhabitant aearing there, !ould seem

to be the realiIation and develoment of the dream@eah, and so the "hristian tye of the

2ctive @ife in the Paradise of 9arth .eatrice standing in the same relation to the dream?achel, and to the "ontemlative @ife in the Paradise of 1eavenEB Marcello "amodonico,

for !hom Matelda is Ela PerfeIione raggiungibile nella >ita attiva, che il ParadisoterrestreE, EMateldala 'Philosohia DoctrinalisC' la 'sorella' di .eatriceCE,Il giornaledantesco, GG>; (#64irgilE,ectura Dantis, (#676), + ;;; delPurgatorio)E,'ltre pagine

dantesche, "altanissetta?ome, 5alvatore 5ciascia, #678, + 4irtuesE, Dante, @ondon,

=eorge =+ 1arra, #64$, + 4$


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/#60 2n eamle of this vie! is advanced by 2+ .artlett =iamatti, EMatelda is to .eatrice as

@eah is to ?achel, or Martha !as said to be to Mary, or the terrestrial aradise !here man

!orshis through the urity of his deeds is to the celestial aradise !here the soul adores by

reflecting the Divine @ight+ Matelda is the guide to that ne! life of Aoy and innocence !herein

Dante !ill rediscover the Eold flameE and find .eatrice and, through her, =odE, )he Earthl&

Paradise and the enaissance Epic+ Princeton, 3+H+, Princeton UP, #6&&, + #$8+ 5ee MarioPaIIaglia's discussion of @eah and ?achel in E;l canto GG>;; del PurgatorioE,%uove letture

dantesche, >ol+ , Florence, @e Monnier, #684, + #$

matelda in the terrestrial paradise

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