ABSTRACT
This chapter considers Dante's poetic and philosophical use of the word 'aspetto' and proposes to explore it in connection with Wittgenstein's original constellation of aspect, aspect-change, seeing-as, and human physiognomy. Dante's original use of 'aspetto' could be considered as an exemplary case of vulgarization of a somewhat technical term. Ludwig Wittgenstein's last meditation on aspect-perception, aspect-change and seeing-as aims at giving a 'perspicuous representation' of the relationship between language and subjectivity, between physiognomy and poetic textuality, between ethics and aesthetic experience, examining the condition for a conversion of the gaze and for the possibility of seeing things in the right way. In order to succeed in doing so, poetic language deploys a multiplicity which keeps together single and separated linguistic worlds. Here the transformation of Dante's vision is expressed through an increasingly synaesthetic and bodily textuality, where the senses of taste and smell mingle with an extremely dynamic and affective vision.
