Il sorriso di Beatrice: note sulla gestualità paradisiaca

This essay addresses the topic of body language in the third part of the Divine Comedy, leveraging on the critical tools of disciplines as diverse as linguistics, psychology, anthropology and semiotics, though without overlooking the socio-historical and literary context of Dante’s masterwork. It aims at showing how gestures not only establish authentic communicative patterns, but they also participate in – and sometimes even replace – verbal interaction. In addition, it emphasizes the semantic weight Dante attributes to laugh, on the one hand, and to Beatrice’s and other blessed soul’s smiles, on the other. This last element acts as an emblem of salvation of humanity, while marking a mystical and ineffable convergence in the mystery of God