Dante and Giotto

The story of two brilliant friends – partly true, partly fictionalised, but full of adventure.

10th June 1289. Between Arezzo and Florence, in the Tuscan countryside, the armies of these two cities are lining up. In the ranks of Florentines, a noble knight and a foot soldier armed with a sword face each other. Suddenly the soldier calls the knight by name: “Hey, Dante! Is that really you?!” Just like that two childhood friends are reunited: Dante Alighieri and Giotto di Bondone. But this no happy reunion: many years have passed since they were friends, but Dante is still angry with Giotto for a joke that backfired. The next day the battle will take place and the pair will be called to risk their lives. But the night is long, and the two geniuses will find a way to fill it with words and images that rise to the stars.

• Dante and Giotto originated from an idea by Miriam Dubini, children’s author and friend of Pierdomenico, who passed away suddenly in 2018.
• The book includes an appendix with the true story of Dante and Giotto, told in an approachable, ironic style, and the historical setting in which the friends lived: the Middle Ages, a period in which “if you’re born an aristocrat, you have peasants working for you. But in exchange, you have to protect them, otherwise it’s bye-bye. If you’re born a peasant, forget it: you’d be better off believing in reincarnation and waiting for your next turn. And in any case, if you misbehave, you’re damned in the afterlife too. Amen.”