Paradiso is the third and final part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno and the Purgatorio. It is an allegory telling of Dante's journey through Heaven, guided by Beatrice, who symbolises theology. In the poem, Paradise is depicted as a series of concentric spheres surrounding the Earth, consisting of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, the Primum Mobile and finally, the Empyrean. It was written in the early 14th century. Allegorically, the poem represents the soul's ascent to God.
Dante and Beatrice speak to the teachers of wisdom Thomas Aquinas, Albertus Magnus, Peter Lombard and Sigier of Brabant in the Sphere of the Sun (fresco by Philipp Veit), Canto 10.
The Paradiso assumes the medieval view of the Universe, with the Earth surrounded by concentric spheres containing planets and stars.
On visiting the Moon, Beatrice explains to Dante the reasons for its markings, Canto 2.
Dante and Beatrice speak to Piccarda and Constance (fresco by Philipp Veit), Canto 3.
Dante Alighieri, most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante, was an Italian poet, writer, and philosopher. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered one of the most important poems of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.
Posthumous portrait in tempera by Sandro Botticelli, 1495
Dante's house museum in Florence. The house has been significantly altered since Dante’s time.
Alleged Dante portrait attributed to Giotto, in the chapel of the Bargello palace, Florence. It was painted c. 1335 and has been restored.
Portrait of Dante, c. 1375–1406, from a fresco in the Palazzo dei Giudici, Florence