Pian Degli Ontani
The life of Beatrice di Pian degli Ontani
Beatrice di Pian degli Ontani was born in 1802 in Conio near Melo in the municipality of Cutigliano, in the Pistoia Mountains. She was a celebrated poet-shepherdess, also known as "Beatrice the poet-shepherdess". Left an orphan as a child, she followed her father to Maremma to help him with his work. She never attended school and was, in fact, illiterate. In 1823 she married Matteo Bernardi and moved to Pian di Novello, near Pian degli Ontani, where they had eight children.
Her passion for poetry
On the day of her wedding, Beatrice improvised as a poetess for the first time, arousing the admiration of all the guests. From that moment on, she was constantly invited to perform at parties and ceremonies in various locations in the Pistoia Mountains. Due to her creative poetic vein and acute spirit, she became a celebrity in the history of extemporaneous poetry between the 19th and 20th centuries.
Young writers and literati get to know Beatrice
Her work attracted the attention of many philologists, literati, and admirers of popular poetry. The first to want to meet her was Niccolò Tommaseo, during his literary journey in Tuscany in 1832. Scholars like poet Giuseppe Tigri, literati Massimo d'Azeglio and Giuseppe Giusti, philologist Michele Barbi, and linguist Giambattista Giuliani visited her humble home in Pian di Novello.
Beatrice's fame spreads
Beatrice's fame inevitably reached Pistoia, and later Bologna and Florence. Her compositions were Rispetto (metrical poetry) and Metro Popolare, short popular poems, generally composed of eight lines in hendecasyllables, mostly amorous or teasing, recited or often sung over well-known and easy tunes. In addition, her fame crossed the borders of the Tusco-Emilian Apennines.
Her extemporaneous poetry was often sung over well-known and easy tunes and embraced many themes, from amorous to teasing ones. Her unique style was characterized by a skillful improvisation and mastery of the Italian language.
The death of an artist
Beatrice di Pian degli Ontani spent most of her life in poverty, but her fame made her a respected and appreciated figure in her community. She passed away in 1868 at the age of 66, and her remains rest in the San Pellegrino cemetery in Cutigliano.
Beatrice's legacy
Beatrice di Pian degli Ontani's work has been celebrated for its ability to elevate popular poetry to a respected art form. She demonstrated that even humble and poor people were able to reach deep and moving levels of creativity. Beatrice's poetry inspired a multitude of subsequent artists, demonstrating the importance of the passage of knowledge and talent. Her figure remains today an exemplary representation of true art, that which arises from the heart and soul, without pretensions and without artifice.
