They descend past Plutus to the circle of misers and spendthrifts rolling boulders around, then down to the Stygian lake of the angry and miserable. They cross the Styx in Phlegyas’ boat.
Divine Comedy
First Dante and Virgil have to negotiate the three-headed monster dog Cerberus, guarding Hell, then the stinking mud containing gluttons.
Passing Minos, who directs the dead to the right circle for their sins, they enter the circle for those guilty of lust. There they hear the story of Paolo and Francesca and their violent deaths.
Dante and Virgil enter the first circle of Hell, Limbo, where those who never sinned but weren’t baptised in the Christian faith are confined.
Virgil leads Dante through the gate of Hell, with its inscription ‘Abandon hope all ye who enter here’. Charon is persuaded to carry them across with the souls of the dead to enter Hell.
Dante is wandering lost in a dark wood, his way out obstructed by wild animals. He asks a man to help, only to discover he’s the ghost of Virgil and they’re on their way to Hell.
To celebrate the life and work of Dante, a small selection of paintings inspired by the Divine Comedy, and his ‘Vita Nuova’.
Some of his earliest independent paintings, including two wonderful pairs based on legend and contemporary literature.
Illustrated table of contents to all the articles here describing Dante’s Divine Comedy and the great paintings and prints that accompany it.
If Inferno and Purgatory are the stick, Paradise must be the carrot – the incentive to live a pious and upright life. Shown in paintings by Blake, engravings by Doré, and others.
The Eclectic Light Company 