The esotericism of Hugo Pratt and Corto Maltese: focus on Venice event

Hugo Pratt, Corto Maltese, esotericism, Venice. And more: arcane courts, knights errant, gentlemen of fortune as told by Hugo Pratt through his alter ego Corto Maltese. These are the themes of the conference organised on 3 December at Palazzo Gradenigo, in Venice; a reflection, analysis and search for that logical thread, that tale within a tale that links Hugo Pratt to esotericism. The audience was led into the initiatory universe of Corto Maltese conceived and illustrated by Hugo Pratt by Prof. Umberto Longo, Professor of Medieval History at "La Sapienza Università di Roma", with moderation by writer Peter Disertori.

The event, organised by the "Manlio Cecovini" International Society for Historical, Social and Ethical Studies with the patronage of the Fondazione Scozzese Triveneta, set itself the objective of analysing the world of Hugo Pratt, reading between texts and drawings, finding pathways and reflections capable of understanding the esotericism present in the great author of Corto Maltese, a character who does not shy away from the fatigue and pain of the road, but does so under the banner of irony and disenchantment, well aware that initiation is realised within oneself.

"The whole story of Corto Maltese," explains Prof. Umberto Longo, "can be read as an uninterrupted initiatory journey through the most varied traditions scattered in the four corners of the globe, crossing alchemy, hermeticism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry, Kabbalah, Sufism. Venice, with its array of references to the temporal elsewhere through the medieval and dreamlike past and to the spatial elsewhere as the gateway to the East, is an integral and intriguing part of this journey".

The fascination, the mystery connected to the events of Corto Maltese are not an over-interpretation, but are present in the very structure of Corto's novel and in the intentions of its author, Hugo Pratt; moreover, they are inherent in Pratt's own cultural DNA, in his attitude and in his way of conceiving life. It is the writer himself who affirms this: he has a relationship with esotericism that cannot be separated from his truest and deepest identity. With his alter ego Corto Maltese he therefore weaves a series of relationships, connections, cross-references, a sort of perennial mirror, where each one recognises, reads and perfects himself in the other.

The conference provided a unique journey into Hugo Pratt's Venice, into the initiatory world of Corto Maltese, which the audience was able to follow in live streaming, and is now available to all fans in the recorded version, online at www.studysociety.it.

The conference programme featured the welcome and opening of the proceedings by Dr. Giuseppe Antonione, President of the International Society "Manlio Cecovini", and the welcome address by the Honorary President of the association, Luigi Milazzi, then, after the report by Umberto Longo with moderation by Peter Disertori, the final greetings by Dr. Gian-Paolo Barbi, Sovereign Grand Commander of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite.