Journey through the Dante Urbinate: Purgatory, Canto VI. Sordello

One of the key episodes of Dante's Purgatory is the encounter with Sordello, which is depicted in three separate vignettes. Dante and Virgil are still in the lower slopes of Purgatory, or Ante-Purgatory, at the second hill. In the foreground, Sordello is kneeling and hugging Virgil’s legs. Both of them came from Mantua. The poet caresses his fellow countryman on the head with his hand, and with the other, seems to invite him to get up. On the left, in full figure and with his face in profile, Dante appears moved as he observes the scene.

Franco dei Russi and workshop.

Source: La Divina Commedia di Federico da Montefeltro. Il Dante Urbinate. Commentario.

Illumination from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia, Ms. Urb. lat. 365, f. 115r, 1478-1482, Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana.

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