Giorgione, Dante and the Sydney Incunable

Edited by Jaynie Anderson and John Gagné, the book 'Giorgione, Dante and the Sydney Incunable', will be launched by Prof Andrea Rizzi and Dr Christopher R. Marshall.

While preparing for an event at the University of Sydney in 2017, a librarian turned to the back page of the library’s 1497 copy of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and made a curious discovery. In red chalk was a drawing of a woman and baby, and an inscription in Italian, 'On the day of 17th September, Giorgione of Castelfranco, a very excellent artist, died of the plague in Venice at the age of 36 and he rests in peace.' This discovery would shine the international art history spotlight on Sydney.

This event is presented by CO.AS.IT., the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies (ANZAMEMS) and Societa' Dante Alighieri, in conjunction with the biennial conference for ANZAMEMS: Possibilities, at the University of Melbourne 3–5 December 2025.