The composite singularity: The Monster of Ravenna in Italian manuscripts

Abstract

This article discusses the Italian corpus related to the appearance of the Monster of Ravenna. Firstly, a methodology is presented for the examination of Early Modern teratological materials, focusing on authorization devices and criteria that governed their readability. Secondly, the diaries of Sebastiano di Branca Tedallini, Luca Landucci and Marin Sanudo are examined in order to point out the diary-writing informational devices, as well as the mechanisms of production and reception of the teratological discourses inscribed in them. In the final section, it is proposed that the Monster of Ravenna should be distinguished from the other “Aristotelian” monsters described in the diaries as its morphology becomes assimilated in the political-theological and moral exegesis of other men of letters. It is concluded that, in this movement, the Monster turns into a “composite singularity”.

Keywords:
Monster of Ravenna; diaries; teratology