Matricciani, E. (2022). Decoding with Gematria the Number 1737, Jesus Christ’s Lifespan in Weeks, According to a XX-Century Mystic. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 10, 327-335.
https://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2022.104024

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: “Madamina, il catalogo è questo”. Did Lorenzo Da Ponte Play with Numbers in Leporello’s Catalogue?

  AUTHORS: Emilio Matricciani

  KEYWORDS: Lorenzo Da Ponte, Emanuele Conegliano, Lesbonico Pegasio, Gematria, Italian, Opera, Mozart, Libretti, Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni

  JOURNAL NAME: Art and Design Review, Vol.10 No.3, August 24, 2022

  ABSTRACT: Lorenzo Da Ponte is recognized as one of the greatest librettists of all times. To opera lovers, his name is worldwide related to Mozart’s three immortal Italian operas: Le Nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni, Così Fan Tutte. In Le Nozze di Figaro and in Don Giovanni, there is the curious presence of numbers—namely integers—arranged in lists, “catalogues”. I try to answer the question: Were these numbers chosen just by chance and only to fit Mozart’s music, or did they hide some covered message? Because of his Jewish origin and culture, never mentioned in his Memorie, Da Ponte was acquainted with Gematria, a numerical coding technique used in the Jewish Torah. By applying the Gematria of the Italian alphabet, I show that a random choice of the integers listed in the two libretti must be excluded, therefore, I conjecture that Da Ponte did play with numbers by hiding them in his names (Emanuele Conegliano, Lesbonico Pegasio, Lorenzo da Ponte), in agreement with his high self-esteem.