Gianni Schicchi de' Cavalcanti


Schicchi was a medieval knight, a Florentine historical figure of the thirteenth century.

Dante's portrayal

There is not much historical information about him, but taking Dante's reference to him as a starting point, commentators have portrayed a biography of him that largely follows the passage of the Inferno -. In the forger's edict, he is condemned for "personal falsification", that is for having cheated others by taking the place of.

Other views

The question widely debated by the glossators, albeit with some differences but substantially the same, is that this Schicchi was famous for the imitations of people and that when the rich widower and childless Buoso died, he, at the request of his friend Simone Donati, Buoso's nephew, sneaked into the bed of the deceased shortly after his death and called a notary and dictated a will in favor of Simone, which was promptly ratified. For himself, it seems that he was entitled only one mare which is an indication of the burlesque and novella character of what happened.

Works inspired by Schicci

Starting from this story, and with much lighter and more pleasant stylistic characters, Giacomo Puccini composed the opéra comique Gianni Schicchi, performed in 1918. Another famous play is the comedy Gianni Schicchi by Gildo Passini, which made its successful debut in Milan in 1922 at the Olympia theatre, staged by the Compagnia Talli-Melato-Betrone.