Mapping Dante s "Inferno" one circle of Hell at a time

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Mapping Dante s "Inferno" one circle of Hell at a time By Anika Burgess, Atlas Obscura on 10.26.17 Word Count 457 Level MAX Figure A. Michelangelo Caetani's cross-section of Hell, 1855.

1 Mapping Dante s "Inferno" one circle of Hell at a time By Anika Burgess, Atlas Obscura on Word Count 457 Level MAX Figure A. Michelangelo Caetani's cross-section of Hell, Image from the public domain. I found myself, in truth, on the brink of the valley of the sad abyss that gathers the thunder of an infinite howling. It was so dark, and deep, and clouded, that I could see nothing by staring into its depths. This is the vision that greets the author and narrator upon entering the first circle of Hell Limbo, home to honorable pagans in Dante Alighieri s "Inferno," the first part of his 14th-century epic poem, "Divine Comedy." Before Dante and his guide, the classical poet Virgil, encounter Purgatorio and Paradiso, they must first journey through a multilayered hellscape of sinners from the lustful and gluttonous of the early circles to the heretics and traitors that dwell below. This first leg of their journey culminates, at Earth s very core, with Satan, encased in ice up to his This article is available at 5 reading levels at 1

2 waist, eternally gnawing on Judas, Brutus and Cassius (traitors to God) in his three mouths. In addition to being among the greatest Italian literary works, "Divine Comedy" also heralded a craze for infernal cartography, or mapping the Hell that Dante had created. This desire to chart the landscape of Hell began with Antonio Manetti, a 15th-century Florentine (like Dante himself) architect and mathematician. He diligently worked on the site, form and measurements of Hell, assessing, for example, the width of Limbo 87.5 miles across, he This article is available at 5 reading levels at 2

3 calculated. There are several theories for why it was so important then to delineate Dante s Hell, including the general popularity of cartography at the time and the Renaissance obsession with proportions and measurements. However, given the inherent limitations of mapping a ﬁctional world, there was some debate between scholars over the speciﬁcs. What was Hell s circumference? How deep did it go? Where was its entrance? Even Galileo Galilei weighed in. In 1588, he gave two lectures in which he investigated the dimensions of Hell and ultimately aﬃrmed the calculations in Manetti s map. Galileo wasn t the only Renaissance heavyweight to attempt infernal cartography. Late in the 15th century, Sandro Botticelli perhaps best known for "The Birth of Venus" and "La Primavera" was commissioned to create a series of illustrations of Dante s masterwork. His "Map of Hell" is a lavishly detailed hellscape that depicts the circles as a stepped funnel ﬁlled with speciﬁc scenes from the poem. After the Renaissance, the desire to deduce the dimensions of Hell waned, before a brief resurgence in the 19th century. Here, Atlas Obscura oﬀers a closer look at the labors of Hell s cartographers. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 3

4 This article is available at 5 reading levels at 4

5 Quiz 1 Which map included in the article BEST depicts the existence of Hell as a location directly beneath human civilization? (A) (B) top image second image third image bottom image 2 HOW do the images enhance your understanding of "infernal cartography" beyond what the article offers? (A) (B) by demonstrating the popularity of the practice in the 16th and 19th centuries by demonstrating the differences in intensity between Dante's individual levels of sin by illustrating the differently detailed interpretations of the same essential idea by illustrating the precise measurements for Hell that were calculated by its mapmakers 3 What are the reasons WHY "infernal cartography" became a popular practice during the Renaissance? 1. Dante was established as a knowledgeable and reliable source on the subject. 2. Artists and thinkers wanted to refute Manetti's interpretation of Hell. 3. There was a general surge in interest in mapmaking to explore the world. 4. Accuracy with proportions and measurements was a valued practice at the time. (A) 1, 2 and 3 (B) 2, 3 and 4 1 and 2 only 3 and 4 only This article is available at 5 reading levels at 5

6 4 Which sentence accurately summarizes HOW different thinkers approached mapping Dante's Hell? (A) (B) Manetti wanted to map the levels of Hell in order to find the exact location of its entrance, and Botticelli showed the entrance at the first circle; Galileo suggested one entered at the bottom. Manetti wanted to map Hell precisely as Dante had described it, and Galileo thought there were flaws in his math; Botticelli believed it was up to him as an artist to improve upon Dante's vision. Manetti wanted to map the levels of Hell as clearly distinct from Limbo to Satan, and Boticelli saw the levels as unimportant; Galileo was more concerned with the mathematics of Hell. Manetti wanted to map Hell using precise calculations, and Galileo affirmed his thinking; Botticelli was more interested in the artistic depiction of specific scenes from the poem. This article is available at 5 reading levels at 6

Inferno (Purgatorio, Paradiso). - Primary Source Edition (Italian Edition) By Dante Alighieri

Inferno (Purgatorio, Paradiso). - Primary Source Edition (Italian Edition) By Dante Alighieri Shop from the world's largest selection and best deals for Anthology Textbooks in Italian. Shop with confidence