The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts - UCLA Department ...

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Intlmparades as€rt€6 ofar&erypal fceale ftSure$-as tn agalleryofall
pmelble tttemes and faus of ttn &s&nt rnov€nrnt-i*$se etprssioris
arrl stfntfu ere ernblecr* ofamglNor. ttarryessbn firds in the fermle
ardlm andmglmous body an alegpricrl slgnifts{, privihged by aU decadent
at and nrhure, md espegally in *re wff{6 of D'Annundq q*rerts it is
undersmod ss a ueoryressian of cultural ad rrtorel cCIdes, or m dre crncdling
srr of diftmrce ber{reen dE dMne and the be$al, the sacred and the
pru&rrs, rny$Cql ffi$y ald €r* ffias$ body ard soul, mascuhne a&C
kn*nine, phesure and p*in, ls€ dd fuil The A,ledusa, the Siren, the
'
@inx,leda,Iiel& oflbq, Salornd, l{ryi@dalen, dreAndrqgy$e, Saint
$&asian: all tllet€ difr€rerit figuffi phf a lcey role in D'Annunziob nork long
affer tfeus"r md his firct vdumes ofrnre. Itry are to be fCIund in his grear
allqoricalnwels,andabst/eallirt hisurorknforttrethearea a leastupur*l tlre
writtu{g CIf Ie I{wtyre e Wa W*i,u Ghe *l*t1nfutn $ St. Wfi,
D'lwrwdob hrricdrarnas'riten in ardrak henchand setro rmrsic by
Clarde Deh$syin 1911. fhqssrreftguremeyalrcbe foundin rheworks of
D'lfinundo's "rwcttr*d" period, stfrt u In t & wtm cigrn Uda Vtfutnt A
Suwr,1913-1916). Odrer fernale figuress trut thb dme "virnrous"
ones (the
Virgtfl, ft€ Maftyr, the Moher,the Sisteq, E€atrice, tlrc Sybil, theMuse, the
gn{€edl4ciffiy)s€ oounterposd (melotsramaically by D'Annunzio to drse
. **archcrypel$repmer*transgressio& Ttlese derhn insrd from ablending
.- or "co*urdinaSog"
of mod$ from clmsisl antiquity, from the Scigures, from
ths ffifint rel$q$ sflditimr, funr Dante, frccr tlw srtnaw poets, from
. Sl*dl'nmenec poet{F, ani *o!tF dl, from dre qlork of hnte Gabriel
fiossetd ard &e Pfe-firplnelite.msrcrnem Ite aiedrmntic o'p'pmidon betnreen
allqoctcal figurs of tranryr€ssion and &m ofvirtue (oserturderrcd
'wi*r
preclasand exctc orrwnents darged wtth emblengic meanlng) is
r typlcal ft*rtre of "fudcnt"
ta# and d&or, and ttre principal key o rhe
dnarrlcal coctpostttron dou€$s ffid images in the Priory at Il Viaoriale
(flg$.3*t).
D'Annunzto's m*nnerlsdc tea&ncy to *sorb litenry and flgw"eiw rnodels
derh'ingfrsn d&rentcuot€tru and histortcal periods leads to a saturation of
literary "rye" whidl b drrplM in dre vlsual "spre" of Il Vinoriab. [\lery
sign polnm m an€dlerslsn in a pentkllyendlcss chaln of analogles artd Ellu.
sions in $tridl ell hlsorkal perspecdve is loo. Nor is lt only a question of images,
theil€s, sd situedons. Eren *t *re tercl of his oqn linguistk and sty'listic
rqim4 D'Annundo's edrettc research abolishe$ all sense of historical diswre
He rcorperafi€s, ftrmgh acroMc philological studies, rare and arduic
terun and mrir€s rhar belo'ng ro different periods of the psr D'Annunzio always
@a large number of dicdonarles and lsimns cloee at handqft€nwritirg
chb desk(as wr still be seen in his snrdyat llVittorlale, fig, 6), In the
fint drrc books at Le laudt Qrtda, EbFa, and Alcyvrn), the grandiose poetic
rnesterpie€ dich he laboriously composed between 1899 and 1903,
D'Annunzio diqpbc a styttstic virtuosity which is tnrlyuniqrre in ttre hi:mory
of ltalian titeraarre, erp{€$sin$ hhnself with equal skill in dre different modes
and rqgH€r$ nf *e epic, ttre heroic orarory the lyric, and dre eclqgue. In pcn,
the mctres forthis rermrkable virnrosoperformance aretobe found in
D'fuinurrzio's craving for success, and in his desire for constanr contact with the
public: "I am cenah to be able to aetonish the public for many years to cnmd
he urue in a lener datedJuh 9, L896 to his ltench translator H€relle.
"My capacity
for rffimorphosh is truly manallous. In it lies the wlrole secreti T+
day's critical senslbility, cpec*ally in ltaty, tends to hvor the "nafurc poetry"
and the lyrical musicality of Alcrvne,and to see in the heroic-epic poetry of