“In one sense, “modern” refers to anything from the time of the renaissance or later ...”
I remember an interesting discussion on FR about the Renaissance and when it began. I don’t recall exactly but I think some agreed that it was about the time that Gutenberg printed the Bible. Dante died more than a century before that.
It’s a bit of a nebulous question. In fact there wasn’t just one single “renaissance” like we talk about now, but a succession of renaissances... the Italian Renaissance, the German Renaissance, the French Renaissance, etc. The Italian was the earliest, while the German, which Gutenberg was a part of, was later.
I’d still say Dante is technically “pre-renaissance” even for Italy, but he is right on the dividing line and should rightfully be seen as a key precursor to the renaissance, kind of like a guitarist like T-Bone Walker is a key figure in rock ‘n roll music even though he never actually played rock ‘n roll, and belonged to an era that preceded it.