Commentary Inf XXVI 1-13

Matching the ironic apostrophe of Pistoia that follows the departure of Vanni Fucci in the last canto ([Inf XXV 10-12]), this one of Florence comes in the wake of the poem's departure from the five Florentine thieves. The image of Florence as winged has caused some puzzlement. While commentators, beginning perhaps with Scartazzini/Vandelli, point out that Dante's words most probably echo the Latin inscription, dating to 1255, on the façade of the Florentine Palazzo del Podestà, proclaiming that Florence is in possession of the sea, the land, indeed the entire world, we are still left to speculate on Dante's reasons for presenting her as winged. Whatever his reason, we might want to reflect that he thought of himself as the 'wingèd one' because of the easy pun available from his surname, Alighieri, in Latin 'aliger' (wingèd). See Shan.1975.1 and Shan.1977.1. In this canto the apostrophized city and the seafaring Ulysses are both associated with 'wings' ('in our mad flight we turned our oars to wings' [v. 125 -- [Inf XXVI 125]]); at least intrinsically, the protagonist is also. He is on a better-purposed 'flight.' For these motifs and another related one see Corti (Cort.1990.1).