Pompeo Venturi, La 'Divina Commedia' di Dante Alighieri, a cura di Antonio Marzo, Roma, Salerno Editrice, 2021, vol. 39 della 'Edizione Nazionale dei Commenti danteschi', 2 tomi, pp. 1236

This article is a bibliographical entry on the critical edition of Pompeo Venturi's (1693-1752) commentary on the Divine Comedy, edited by Antonio Marzo for Salerno Editrice in 2021 as part of the National Edition of Dante Commentaries. Venturi's commentary, originally published in 1732 without an author's name and subsequently reprinted several times until 1749, represents a work of great historical importance as it represents the first modern attempt to present the complete text of the Divine Comedy with commentary by a Jesuit, thus marking the reappropriation of Dante's work by the Ignatian order after a period of distrust. Antonio Marzo's work is based on the 1749 Veronese edition, considered the most complete and closest to the author's intentions. It includes an introduction that innovatively traces the history of the Jesuits' reappraisal of Dante, dispelling the traditional historiographical prejudice regarding their aversion to the Florentine poet. Divided into two volumes of 1,236 pages, the volume includes, in addition to the commentary, a thorough philological note reconstructing the work's complex editorial history through its various editions, thus offering a significant contribution both to Venturi studies and to the history of Dante exegesis.