Statius recounts to Virgil his conversion to Christianity as they climb the stairs to the sixth terrace, with Dante trailing behind them. Together, the three reach the terrace of gluttony, where they notice a large tree growing upside down, its fruit-laden branches angled up, completely out of reach. The tree is watered by a rain that rises from the ground up while the souls of the gluttonous walk beneath it, wasting away and unable to taste the tantalizingly delicious fruit.
Among the souls doing penance here, Dante notices his friend and fellow Florentine poet, Forese Donati. He is surprised to see Forese already so high up the mountain, since his death is still quite recent. Forese explains that his rapid climb has been expedited by his devoted widow, who prays for him and thus reduces the time he must spend in penance before reaching salvation.
Reproduction of Sandro Botticelli’s illustration depicting the souls of the gluttonous and the inverted tree. - La Divina Commedia or The Divine Vision of Dante Alighieri in Italian and English, London, The Nonesuch Press, 1928, plate 5. McGill Rare Books and Special Collections, folio Colgate 6 N663 D36 1928.
EXCERPT OF THE COMEDY: Pg. 23, 85-93
Forese directs Dante’s gaze to the soul of Bonagiunta Orbicciani, poet of Lucca. Bonagiunta recognizes Dante as one of the Florentine poets who developed a new style of poetry, the Dolce Stil Novo, a poetic tradition whose only inspiration is Love.
Dante says farewell to Forese and heads toward the staircase to the seventh terrace with Statius and Virgil. The angel of temperance removes the penultimate P from Dante’s forehead and gestures the three poets to climb the stairs.
On the way up, Dante asks his companions why the immaterial souls of the gluttonous can still suffer from hunger and thus appear so gaunt. Statius explains that souls reproduce, in part, the physical behaviors of their bodies according to their individual natures.
EXCERPT OF THE COMEDY: Pg. 24, 49-57
In the illumination, Dante, Virgil, and Statius stand before the souls of the gluttonous who cannot reach the fruit of the tree. - Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Plut. 40.1, f. 178v.