Western literature
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Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, and is shaped by the periods in which they were conceived
A depiction of Boethius teaching his students (1385). Boethius, a 6th-century Christian philosopher, helped keep alive the classic tradition in post-Roman Italy.
Sordello from a 13th-century manuscript
Jacobus de Voragine with the Golden Legend in his hand, fresco by Ottaviano Nelli, chapel of Palazzo Trinci, Foligno, Italy
Profile portrait of Dante Alighieri, by Sandro Botticelli
Divine Comedy
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The Divine Comedy is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c. 1308 and completed c. 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian liter
Western literature
…heavenly, and the real Beatrice is supplanted by an idealized vision of her, losing her human nature and becoming a representation of the divine. The Divine Comedy tells of the poet's travels through the three realms of the dead—Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise—accompanied by the Latin poet Virgil. An allegorical…
Dante shown holding a copy of the Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, with the spheres of Heaven above, in Domenico di Michelino's 1465 fresco
Dante gazes at Mount Purgatory in an allegorical portrait by Agnolo Bronzino, painted c. 1530
Virgil
Beatrice