Gabriele d’Annunzio’s Letters to Luisa Baccarà to be Published Feb 5
The correspondence between Gabriele d’Annunzio and Luisa Baccarà, preserved at the Vittoriale degli Italiani, will be made public on February 5th.
Preview of the letter publication
GARDONE RIVIERA – A particularly anticipated moment by Gabriele d’Annunzio scholars is approaching. On Saturday, February 5th, at the Fondazione del Vittoriale, some letters from the correspondence between the poet and the Venetian pianist Luisa Baccarà will be made public.
D’Annunzio met her in the summer of 1919. Piero Chiara, one of the most prominent biographers of the Vate, writes about that encounter: -“D’Annunzio, in his enthusiasm for his new conquest, saw her as resembling the Psyche of Naples, a caryatid, a Giorgionesque figure, and finally a furious Tisiphone. He immediately began sending her books, flowers, jewelry, and then a series of those letters that had always been the preliminary artillery of all his love battles”.
The bond between d’Annunzio and Baccarà
Baccarà would always remain by the poet’s side, first in Fiume and then in Gardone Riviera. After d’Annunzio’s death, the faithful companion returned to Venice, where she died on January 21, 1985. Her heirs then left a mysterious trunk to the Fondazione del Vittoriale, containing, among other items, the correspondence between Baccarà and the poet. However, a provision in her will stipulated that the letters could only be opened after 15 years.
Just yesterday, therefore, the restriction expired. The correspondence has been entrusted to the archivists of the Vittoriale. It will be presented to the press on February 5th, and afterwards will be available to researchers. Naturally, the curiosity among biographers and D’Annunzio scholars is high.
Hypotheses about d’Annunzio’s fall
Professor Annamaria Andreoli, president of the Gardone Foundation, had previously proposed an intriguing hypothesis: perhaps the solution to the mystery of Gabriele d’Annunzio’s fall from a balcony on the first floor of the Prioria on August 13, 1922, is contained within those very letters.
The poet, who called it the “flight of the Archangel,” remained between life and death for twelve days. It was an episode that had decisive consequences for the future relationship between the poet and Baccarà, who ceased to be his lover and became simply the governess of the Vittoriale. Many conjectures have been advanced: was it an accident or a deliberate act? Or was it the sabotage of Baccarà’s sister, the young Jole?
D’Annunzio never wanted to confide to anyone what had happened. No one so far knows whether the letters in question might shed new light on the complex and multi-faceted figure of the poet. For now, it is only known that, with sealed letters, the Baccarà trunk contained trivial items: some issues of Corriere della Sera and Illustration Italiana, a glass horse, silk cushions, and some boxes.
