EXCERPT OF THE COMEDY: Pd. 10, 1-6
Past the door into Purgatory, the poets travel down a long and narrow rocky corridor. Dante and Virgil cross this space to emerge into an opening in the broad light of day. They rest for a moment and then continue on their way to the first of seven terraces that circumscribe Mount Purgatory.
Dante and Virgil walk onto the first terrace, with the open sky to their right and the rock wall of the mountain to their left. The mountainside is of white marble, upon which are scenes engraved so magnificently that they could only be God's handiwork.
These reliefs provide illustrious examples of humility: the Virgin Mary accepting her role as mother of Christ as announced to her by the angel Gabriel in the New Testament; King David of Israel humbling himself in a dance before the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament; Roman Emperor Trajan honoring a poor widow’s request for justice for her son.
The souls of the prideful approach Dante and Virgil, burdened by heavy boulders that they carry on their backs. Struggling under the weight of the rock, they are bent double and recite the ‘Our Father’ as they trudge along the terrace.
Dante bends down to better see the prideful. Among them, he recognizes Oderisi da Gubbio, a famous manuscript illuminator who studied under Cimabue, and praises the artist’s works. Oderisi humbles himself in response, and blames his living self’s vanity and quest for worldly glory for his otherworldly circumstances.
Dante and Virgil soon leave the prideful behind as they straighten up and continue on their journey; Virgil takes this time to draw Dante’s attention to a series of reliefs beneath their feet, which illustrate examples of pride being justly punished.
In the illumination: below, Virgil and Dante admire the three reliefs of Mary and Gabriel, David dancing before the Ark, and Trajan and the widow; above, the two poets speak with two prideful souls. - Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 40.7, f. 97r.
EXCERPT OF THE COMEDY: Pg. 11, 100-108
An angelic light approaches Dante and Virgil. The heavenly messenger directs the poets to a staircase that will take them to the next terrace. As the two walk by, the angel brushes Dante’s forehead with the tip of its wing, erasing one of the seven ‘P’s inscribed upon it. Alleviated of much of his burden, the poet follows his guide up the stairs.
End of Purgatory 10; the woodcut illustration shows Dante and Virgil encountering the souls of the prideful who recite the “Our Father”. - Comento di Christophoro Landino fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Dante Alighieri poeta fiorentino, Brescia, Bonino Bonini, 1487, f. cciiiir. McGill Rare Books and Special Collections, Incun 1487 Dante.