Italian newbie here, so forgive me if this is a simple question. I've got an Italian book review of something by Voltaire, written about 1740. Here's a brief part of it:
Egli in 25 capitoli va stendendo la filosofia del famoso Newton
According to what I've read, the present progressive is formed with "stare" + present gerund (and less commonly with "venire"). What I'm wondering is whether this is an alternate form of the present progressive, or whether it's a special construction that has a different meaning.
For example, in Spanish you could use a form of "ir" + present participle to say,
en 25 capítulos el va explicando la filosofía del famoso Newton
This construction draws attention to the gradual, extended nature of the exposition, so roughly it could be, "in 25 chapters, he goes through and explains the philosophy of the famous Newton."
Is there a comparable construction in Italian? Or is this something else entirely?