On a barren, sandy plain, naked spirits suffer under showers of flakes of fire. Blasphemers lie flat on their backs, sodomites keep moving, and usurers crouch with purses strung from their necks.
Scaramuzza
In which Dante learns about just rulers and the unjust from a giant eagle made from spirits, and sees Jacob’s ladder leading up to the highest heaven.
In which Dante, guided by Beatrice, ascends to the first shell of the heavens, containing the moon. Many paintings of Piccarda Donati and the Empress Constance result.
As they can’t continue ascending Purgatory after dark, Dante and Virgil rest overnight in a valley with rulers. In the morning, Dante has been carried up to the gate into Purgatory itself.
These sinners are on barren sand, flakes of fire falling on their exposed flesh. Having spoken to some, Dante and Virgil board the monster Geryon.
The Eclectic Light Company 