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The cover page of the Paradiso displays an architectural structure that is complex yet light, almost like a triumphal arch. It gets its extraordinary lightness…
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As the three poets continue their journey through Purgatory, they reach the sixth Terrace, where souls are punished for the sin of Gluttony. Statius, Virgil,…
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Here, finally, the upper half of Lucifer emerges from the frozen lake. We are at the Judecca, reserved for traitors against religious and political authority.…
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You may not know that among the thousands of volumes in the Vatican Library, the Dante Urbinate has been chosen to be shown to distinguished visitors, because of its extraordinary beauty. The critical history of…
“E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle.” Our journey with Dante and Virgil through the Inferno has ended. We see the two poets as they emerge from the great rocky cave where Lucifer appears with…
Here, finally, the upper half of Lucifer emerges from the frozen lake. We are at the Judecca, reserved for traitors against religious and political authority. The demon Lucifer has three faces, colored red, black, and…
From blazing flames to ice, our journey beside Dante and Virgil continues in the ninth circle of the Inferno! The two poets have arrived at Antenora, where traitors to family or country are punished. Here…
We have mentioned the marvelous physical appearance of the Dante Urbinate but here we will focus on one aspect of its physical make-up: the parchment. The parchment of the Dante Urbinate is likely made of…
As we go deeper into Dante’s Inferno, we are now at the eighth bolgia in the eighth circle of Hell, where those who gave false or corrupt advice are punished. As Dante and Virgil cross…
The Dante Urbinate is an extraordinary manuscript, by any measure. Our journey through its pages is a perfect way to analyze the illustrations and the iconography in the manuscript, bringing light to some of the…
Our journey through the Dante Urbinate picks up at the fifth circle of Hell, where souls are punished for the sins of wrath and sullenness. In this splendid miniature, we see Dante and Virgil while…
Often, when we turn our attention to miniatures, we risk forgetting the great contribution given to us by the copyists, who were first-rank artists themselves. Today we will meet Matteo de’ Contugi, one of the…
There are many characters, either based on real people or taken from literary tradition, that have gained fame thanks to being in Dante’s Divine Comedy. Among all of them, the story of Paolo and Francesca…
