Previous
Canto 28
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Purgatorio, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Purgatory and the Heavenward Journey
Love, Sin, and God
Free Will
Spiritual Power vs. Earthly Power
Time
Summary
Analysis
The Lady says, “blessed are they whose sins are covered.” Then she walks along the brook, with Dante following on the opposite bank. As they round a curve, the lady enjoins Dante to watch and listen. As he does, Dante sees a radiant light flash through the forest, growing brighter and brighter. It’s soon followed by a beautiful melody. Dante then sees seven massive golden candlesticks, which guide people in pure white robes. The people are singing a blessing to Beatrice. In their train come four six-winged animals with beautiful feathers.
The procession is the first of what are described as the Beatrician Pageants, the first being the Pageant of the Sacrament. This procession allegorically displays the history of the Christian Church up to the incarnation of Christ. Beatrice is at the center, because for Dante, she symbolizes the soul’s union with God, as Dante’s medieval Catholicism understood that union to occur within the church’s sacrament of the Eucharist. Dante describes the strange feathered creatures as being like the creatures in the apocalyptic biblical accounts of the prophet Ezekiel and the apostle John.
Themes
Between the four-winged creatures is drawn a chariot, a gryphon harnessed to the front. To the right of the chariot, three ladies (the Three Graces) are dancing—one of them fiery read, one emerald green, and one snow white. To the left, four purple-clad ladies (the Four Virtues) sing, led by one with three eyes on her brow. They’re followed by a group of seven elders garlanded with flowers. The procession stops in front of Dante, and thunder is heard.
The procession is filled with biblical and classical imagery; at this time, it would also have alluded to the Corpus Christi procession in which the eucharistic elements were paraded through a town. The ladies represent the Theological Virtues of faith, hope, and love, and the Cardinal Virtues of prudence (the three-eyed one), justice, temperance, and fortitude. The elders represent the authors of the New Testament gospels and epistles.
Themes
