VFF: The Visual Representation of Literary Influence

Giovanni Boccaccio, one of the three crowns of Italy and father of the modern short story, has had an immense influence on our literary heritage. As he plunders his favorite authors for plots, he himself in turn becomes a goldmine of stories that find their way into plays, novels, poetry and films. Attempting to portray visually the influence absorbed by Boccaccio and in turn exerted on later authors reveals both advantages and challenges in the use of a visual network as a tool to study Boccaccio.