1. Introduction to Dante Virtual Tours of the Inferno
Which circle of hell will you be condemned to?

2. Guelphs (supporters of the papacy – lesser nobles and artisans)
Dante Alighieri ( )
 m. Gemma Donati
Beatrice
Guelphs (supporters of the papacy – lesser nobles and artisans)
Ghibellines (supporters of the Holy Roman Emperor – feudal nobility)
Dante in front of Mount Purgatory

3. Battle of Campaldino (June 11, 1289) White Guelphs (Dante's party)
White Guelphs
(Dante's party)
Black Guelphs
Pope Boniface VIII
( )
Charles of Valois
Ravenna
View of Florence

4. The Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso Boccaccio Virgil
Boccaccio
Virgil
Contrapasso
Dante’s Inferno

5. Florence Baptistery mosaics, c. 1225; Last Judgment

6. Florence Baptistery mosaics; Christ in Majesty

7. Florence Baptistery mosaics; Satan and the Damned

8. Questions for Dante:
-Why is Virgil Dante’s guide through the Inferno? What does Virgil represent?
-Why is Virgil in hell? What does this tell us about Dante’s conception of Christianity?
-Why are there so many clerics in hell? What does this tell us about how Dante views the contemporary Church?
-Why are so many of Dante’s political enemies in the Inferno? What role does politics play in the Inferno?
-What can Dante’s urge to categorize sins and allegorize his spiritual journey tell us about medieval mental habits?
-Does anything surprise you about the way Dante characterizes sins (which sins are greater and which sins are lesser)? What source(s) is Dante drawing upon to create this hierarchy of sin?
-Why are there so many figures from antiquity in Dante’s Inferno? What does this tell us about how Dante views the classical, pagan world?
Gustave Dore’s illustrations for the Inferno are posted as a Powerpoint file on the course website.