As well the "paternal image" of Brunetto, Dante was influenced by the circle of Florentine poets who worked in the wake of the Sicilian school and of Guittone d'Arezzo. It was the poetry and friendship of Guido Cavalcanti, however, that most influenced the concrete development of Dante's art. Having reached his majority (at the age of 18, being fatherless) and being about to take Gemma Donati as his wife (he had been betrothed to her since 1277) in about 1285, Dante sent Cavalcanti a sonnet, "To Every Captive Soul and Gentle Heart". It was the sonnet that reappeared nearly ten years later in the opening of the Vita nuova ("The New Life"; c. 1293), which was dedicated to Cavalcanti and in which Dante describes his love for Beatrice (Folco Portinari' s daughter and Simone de' Bardi's wife).