La prima traduzione francese della “Vita Nuova” nell’opera dell’italianista Etienne-Jean Delécluze

A pupil of Jacques-Louis David and painter himself, Etienne-Jean Delécluze is better known as classicist art critic for the «Journal des Débats» and the «Moniteur Universel», as the author of histories of art and a book on David. Yet his interest in Italian culture ranged from painting to literature, and his studies on Italian poetry convinced him to traduce Dante’s Vita Nuova in French. So, among French 19th century ‘italianisants’ Delécluze is certainly one of those who contributed to diffuse the knowledge of Dante’s minor or forgotten works in France. His translation of the Vita Nuova was published in 1843, after a long work, and immediately encountered great appreciation among critics, both in France and in Italy. Reprints were accompanied by insightful excerpts of criticism where Delécluze gave proof of a good critical competence of Dante’s poetics too.