Dante: Divina Commedia
by RUSSI, Franco de', Manuscript (Urb. lat. 365), 378 x 241 mm
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) wrote his masterpiece, the Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy) in the last years of his exile from Florence. It is an allegorical poem describing the state and passage of souls in the afterlife. This unrivalled work has inspired numerous artists to illustrate it. However, only a handful have ever come close to doing it justice. The codex written and illuminated for Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino (reigned 1474-1482) constitutes one of these rare examples.
The miniature from folio 127r illustrates cantos 10 to 12 of Purgatory, in the manner of a frieze. Dante and his guide, Virgil, behold the third in a series of reliefs chiseled in a rock face, which are shown as examples of humility to those in Purgatory who are tainted with the sin of pride.
Several artists worked on the decoration of this codex. This miniature is ascribed to Franco de’ Russi.