Dante's Purgatorio: Geography, History, and Key Encounters Explained
On Easter Sunday, Dante Alighieri's Purgatorio, the second part of the Divine Comedy, commences as Dante, accompanied by Virgil, ascends from Hell to Mount Purgatory, created by Lucifer's descent. This realm features Ante-Purgatory, seven terraces addressing capital sins, and the Garden of Eden. Notable characters include Cato of Utica, Manfredi, Marco Lombardo, and Oderisi da Gubbio. After a four-day climb, Dante and Virgil reach the peak on Easter Wednesday. In the Garden of Eden, Matelda describes the rivers Lethe and Eunoè, and Beatrice arrives to scold Dante. Following a cleansing in the streams, he is ready to move on to Heaven. The text cites Jacques Le Goff's The Birth of Purgatory (1981) and includes illustrations by Gustave Doré. The source is The Collector.
Key facts
- Purgatorio is the second cantica of Dante's Divine Comedy, following Inferno and preceding Paradiso.
- Dante's Purgatory is a mountain in the southern hemisphere, formed by the soil displaced when Lucifer fell from Heaven.
- The mountain is divided into Ante-Purgatory, seven terraces for the capital vices, and the Garden of Eden at the summit.
- The seven capital vices are Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony, and Lust.
- Dante and Virgil climb Mount Purgatory for four days and three nights, reaching the summit on Easter Wednesday.
- Key encounters include Cato of Utica, Manfredi, Marco Lombardo, and Oderisi da Gubbio.
- Beatrice arrives at the summit and calls Dante by name, the only occurrence in the entire Comedy.
- Jacques Le Goff's The Birth of Purgatory (1981) dates the term purgatorium to around 1170.
Entities
Artists
- Dante Alighieri
- Virgil
- Jacques Le Goff
- Teodolinda Barolini
- Gustave Doré
- Simone Camaldolese
- Priamo della Quercia
- John William Waterhouse
- William Blake
- Cato of Utica
- Cato the Younger
- Manfredi
- Frederick II
- Marco Lombardo
- Oderisi da Gubbio
- Cimabue
- Giotto
- Guido Cavalcanti
- Ulysses
- Adam
- Eve
- Julius Caesar
- Charon
- Lucifer
- Satan
- Beatrice
- Matelda
Institutions
- Columbia University
- The Collector
- Wikimedia Commons
- Polona Digital Library
- National Library of Poland
- Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
- Digital Dante
- Rare Book and Manuscript Library
- British Library
- Europeana
- Bibliothèque nationale de France
- Tate Britain
- Dahesh Museum of Art
- Museum of History and Civilizations
Locations
- Florence
- Italy
- Jerusalem
- Warsaw
- Poland
- Rabat
- Morocco
- London
- United Kingdom
- New York
- United States