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in which the remains were placed in 1677, and in which they were discovered in 1865, are preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Ravenna.

PART IV
CHARACTERISTICS OF DANTE
CHAPTER I
    Â Â Â Â  Boccaccio’s account of Dante’s person and character—His love of fame—His failings—Account of him by his contemporary, Giovanni Villani.
    I N his
Life of Dante
Boccaccio gives the following description of Dante’s person and character, which was derived no doubt in part from the recollections of those who had been personally acquainted with the poet at Ravenna. Boccaccio paid several visits to Ravenna, the first of which took place in 1346, just five-and-twenty years after Dante’s death, when there can have been little difficulty in collecting information from contemporaries of Dante who had frequented his society, chief among whom was Piero di Giardino, who, as we have already seen, conversed with Dante on his deathbed. 1
    Â Â Â Â  “Our poet,” says Boccaccio, “was of middle height, and after he had reached mature years he walked with somewhat of a stoop; his gait was grave and sedate; and he was ever clothed in most seemly garments, his dress being suited to the ripeness of his years. His face was long, his nose aquiline, his eyes rather large than small, his jaws heavy, with the under lip projecting beyond the upper. His complexion was dark, and his hair and beardthick, black, and crisp; and his countenance always sad and thoughtful. Whence it happened one day in Verona (the fame of his writings having by that time been spread abroad everywhere, and especially of that part of his
Commedia
to which he gave the title of Hell, and he himself being known by sight to many men and women), that as he passed before a doorway where several women were sitting, one of them said to the others in a low voice, but not so low but that she was plainly heard by him and by those with him, ‘Do you see the man who goes down to Hell, and returns at his pleasure, and brings back news of those who are below?’ To which one of the others answered in all simplicity: ‘Indeed, what you say must be true; don’t you see how his beard is crisped and his colour darkened by the heat and smoke down below?’ Dante, hearing these words behind him, and perceiving that they were spoken by the women in perfect good faith, was not ill pleased that they should have such an opinion of him, and smiling a little passed on his way.
    Â Â Â Â  “In his manners, whether in public or in private, he was wonderfully composed and restrained, and in all his ways he was more courteous and civil than any one else. In food and drink he was very moderate, both in partaking of them at the regular hours, and in never indulging to excess; nor did he ever particularly care for one thing more than for another. He commended delicate dishes, but for the most part lived on plain fare; condemning in no measured terms those who study much to have choice dainties, and to have them prepared with all possible care,—declaring that such people do not eat in order to live, but live in order to eat.
    Â Â Â Â  “No man was more wakeful than he, whether in his studies or in anything which gave him anxious thought, to such an extent that many a time his household and hiswife used to be vexed at it, until, growing accustomed to his ways, they came to take no notice of it. He rarely spoke, save when spoken to, and that with deliberation and in tones suited to the subject of his discourse. Nevertheless, when occasion demanded, he was most eloquent and fluent, with an excellent and ready delivery.
    Â Â Â Â  “In his youth he took the greatest pleasure in music and singing, and was on friendly and familiar terms with all the best singers and musicians of the time. And his love for music led him to compose many things, which he had set by them to pleasing and masterly accompaniments. How