L'album e il quaderno: Emilio Praga pittore poeta

The essay suggests different interpretation of Emilio Praga’s experimental approach to the relationship between literature and painting based on the recent category of intermediality. Whereas other poets belonging to ltalian Scapigliatura failed in developing an innovative relation between the “sister arts” as their experiments led to the recognition of the traditional topos of ineffability of the visuals, Emilio Praga (1839-1875) proposed a revolutionary reshaping of romantic ekphrasis and tried to apply the techniques of modern painting in his four collections of poems (Tavolozza, Penombre, Fiabe e leggende, Trasparenze). Although he could not achieve a final and satisfactory personal result, Praga’s poetic quest opened a new perspective that would affect future poets such as Aldo Palazzeschi.