As he does so, Dante’s forehead is brushed by his wing, and he feels much lighter when that removes one of the Ps which were inscribed on his brow by the gatekeeper angel. Wikimedia Commons.Īn angel then ushers them to move up to the next terrace. Gustave Doré (1832-1883), Arachne (c 1867), engraving for Dante’s Purgatory, further details not known. Walter Crane (1845–1915), She changed her into a spider (c 1910), illustration in The story of Greece told to boys and girls by Mary Macgregor, other details not known. Although Arachne’s life was spared, she was transformed into a spider and condemned to spin webs forever. Although by her achievements Arachne should have won, her tapestries were scathingly critical of the gods, and Athena flew into a rage. She was so proud of her weaving that she challenged Pallas Athena (Minerva) herself to a contest. Wikimedia Commons.Īs Dante moves round the terrace, he sees further sculptures showing the famously proud, figures such as Lucifer himself, Niobe whose fourteen children were slain for her pride, and Arachne. Gustave Doré (1832–1883), The Prideful – Oderisi, Purgatorio Canto 12 verses 1-2 (c 1857), engraving, dimensions and location not known. Image by Sailko, via Wikimedia Commons.Īmong these is Oderisi da Gubbio, a painter of miniatures who illuminated manuscripts for Pope Boniface VIII and was a colleague of Giotto. Joseph Anton Koch (1768-1839), Purgatory (detail) (1825-28), fresco, dimensions not known, Casa Massimo, Rome, Italy.
The souls of those purging themselves of pride are bent double under the weight of huge boulders on their backs as they chant a modification of the Lord’s Prayer. Gustave Doré (1832–1883), The Sculptures, Purgatorio Canto 10 verses 82-84 (c 1857), engraving, dimensions and location not known. This starts with the Anunciation to the Virgin Mary, and progresses through history. There is a large marble frieze depicting the antithesis of pride, humility. They climb along a trough of moving rock up through a gap to emerge on the first terrace of Purgatory, for the spirits of those who suffered from pride, the first of the Seven Deadly Sins. Once Dante and Virgil pass through the entrance to Purgatory, the gatekeeper angel warns them not to look back, or they will be ejected and remain outside its wall.
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