A late 19th century Grand Tour bust of Dante Alighieri mounted on a wooden plinth.Dante Alighieri (Italian, c.?1265 – 14 September 1321) was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedģa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.Dante is known for establishing the use of the vernacular in literature at a time when most poetry was written in Latin, which was accessible only to educated readers. His work set a precedent that important Italian writers such as Perrarch and Boccaccio would later follow.Dante was instrumental in establishing the literature of Italy. His depictions of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven provided inspiration for the larger body of Western art and literature. He influenced English writers such as Geoggrey Chaucer, John Milton and Alfred Tennyson, among many ot...