28 February 2021

Montegrappa pens dedicated to Dante Alighieri

Montegrappa commemorates the life and work of Italy's most celebrated literary figure with the debut of the new Divina Commedia series

Inferno: "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here". Explore Dante's intricate study of sin through the nine circles of Dante Alighieri: Inferno. But remember, the devil is in the detail.

Nel 1321, Dante Alighieri, politico e poeta fiorentino, morì in esilio ignaro del reale influsso che la sua opera avrebbe avuto sulla cultura e la lingua del nostro Paese. 700 anni dopo la sua morte, Dante è venerato come il padre della lingua italiana e la sua Divina Commedia è considerata il primo e più importante contributo letterario della storia dell'Italia. Per queste ragioni Montegrappa si è sentita in dovere di onorare la sua eredità.

In 1321, the Florentine political figure and poet, Dante Alighieri, died in exile – unaware of the impact his work would have on religion, culture and language. 700 years after his passing, Dante is revered as the father of the Italian language, and his Divine Comedy is regarded as the nation's greatest contribution to literature. And Montegrappa honors Dante.

Montegrappa Divina Commedia writing series

Completed in 1320, The Divine Comedy is a 14,233-line poem illuminating in content and blinding in structure. Spanning three volumes of rhyming verse, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso provide a roadmap for the afterlife, and the template for the Montegrappa Divina Commedia writing series.

L’epopea di Dante si apre con Inferno ed è qui che inizia anche il racconto artistico di Montegrappa. L’edizione limitata di penne stilografiche e roller Dante Alighieri: Inferno comprende 333 penne in argento e nove penne in oro 18 carati – numerazione che osserva e omaggia la famosa struttura in terzine a rime incatenate scelta da Dante per il suo poema. Ciascuno strumento da scrittura è custodito in un astuccio a forma di libro dallo stile vintage e assicurato nella sua sede da una fascia elastica su cui è impressa la scritta “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate”.

Dante's epic opens with Inferno, and it is also here that Montegrappa artistic narrative begins. Fountain pen and rollerball editions of Dante Alighieri: Inferno comprise 333 silver and nine 18K-gold examples – observing Dante's famous terza rima structure. Each resides in a vintage book, lashed down beneath the warning "Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch′intrate" (Abandon all hope, ye who enter here).

Pen and rollerball editions of Dante Alighieri by Montegrappa

From end to end, artisanal mastery tells the tale of Dante and Virgil's tour of the underworld. Beginning at a hand-enamelled crown, the poets leave the mysterious forest and cross the River Acheron to pass through nine circles of escalating horror. Precious-metal micro-sculptures detail the sins and punishments found at each descending level.

At the base, the poets arrive at the centre of a frozen lake, where they encounter the writhing form of Lucifer, waist-deep in ice. The dark angel's pointed tail appears to rise through the pen's entire length, before emerging through the crown to furnish a pocket clip of demonic proportions.

The artisanal essence of Dante Alighieri: Inferno reprises a Montegrappa flourish pioneered by The Dragon in 1995. Dante's circles are recreated using lost-wax casting, then arranged around an artisanal resin core. For this edition, a special magma blend of Montegrappite provides a fiery backdrop to the poet's fearsome hellscape.

More than 700 years since its completion, Inferno's renunciation of sin continues to reverberate through art, literature and broader society. But for Italians, Dante's renegade decision to reject Latin is what would ensure his immortality. His presence lives on in our language. Only the finest craftsmanship of Montegrappa can do him justice.

Edited by Lisa Maria River

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