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From building to poem and back:

the Danteum as a study in the
projection of meaning across
symbolic forms
Aarati Kanekar College DAAP, University of Cincinnati, Ohio 45221,
USA

1. Introduction windows through which the rays of fair-haired

Thus, as you direct your gaze towards the Dawn are channeled. . ..
eastern arches, you behold a never-ceasing [Verse 506]
wonder. And upon all of them, above this cover- Paulus Silentiarius1
ing of many curves, there rises, as it were, This paper discusses the relationship between an
another arch borne on air, spreading out its architectural project, Giuseppe Terragni’s design
swelling fold, and it rises to the top, to the of the Danteum, and a poem, Dante’s Divine
high rim upon whose back is planted the base Comedy. The project is of special interest precisely
of the divine head-piece of the centre of the because it takes the poem as its architectural
church. Thus the deep bosomed conch springs design programme. However, in this particular
up into the air: at the summit it rises single, case, the relationship between poetry and archi-
while underneath it rests on triple folds; and tecture might have been traveled in both direc-
through fivefold openings pierced in its back it tions and in multiple ways. Descriptions offered
provides sources of light, sheathed in thin in early Christian hymns suggest that intersections
glass, through which, brilliantly gleaming, between poetry and buildings were part of the
enters rosy-ankled Dawn. . . Byzantine and early Christian cultural tradition
[Verse 398] that precedes Dante’s Divine Comedy. For
Rising above this into the immeasurable air is a instance, the verses above, so deliberately
helmet rounded on all sides like a sphere and focused upon the geometry of the church, are
radiant as the heavens, it bestrides the roof of part of a lengthy hexameter hymn, celebrating
the church. At its very summit art has depicted the restoration of Hagia Sophia on its re-dedica-
a cross, protector of the city. It is a wonder to tion in 563, by Justinian’s court poet Paul the
see how [the dome], wide below, gradually Silentiary.2 Another hymn written in Syria only
grows less at the top as it rises. It does not, fifty years after the building of Hagia Sophia
however, form a sharp pinnacle, but is the described the cathedral of Nisibin-Edessa (Nizip-
firmament which rests on air. . . . Urfa) as follows:
[Verse 489] Small though it is it resembles the universe. Its
At the very navel the sign of the cross is depicted vault expands like the heavens and shines with
within a circle by means of minute mosaic so mosaics as the firmament with stars. Its soaring
that the Saviour of the whole world may dome compares with the Heaven of Heavens,
forever protect the church; while at the base where God resides, and its four arches represent
of the half-sphere are fashioned forty arched the four directions of the world, with their varie-

# 2005 The Journal of Architecture 1360–2365 DOI: 10.1080/13602360500115061

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gated colours like the rainbow. Its piers are like Before Terragni ever interpreted it as a pro-
the mountains of the earth; its marble walls gramme of architectural design, The Divine
shine like the light of the image not man-made, Comedy had been an inspiration for works in
the God-head; three windows in the apse symbo- numerous media including painting, sculpture, and
lise the Trinity, the nine steps leading to the music. Thus, it assumed the role of what Walter
chancel represent the nine choirs of the angels.3 Benjamin, in ‘The Task of the Translator’, posits as
The poet thus concludes that the building represents the essential feature of a translation: ‘a translation
heaven and earth, the apostles, the prophets, the issues from the original—not so much from its life
martyrs, and indeed the God-head. Should these as from its afterlife’.5 The translation becomes not
hymns be considered in relation to the poem, they a reproduction but a reincarnation of the original,
might well be read as descriptions of Paradiso. The taking on a life of its own in a new language: ‘The
Divine Comedy would lend itself to a comparison task of the translator consists in finding that
with buildings because it is extremely visual and intended effect upon the language into which he
descriptive of both physical and more abstract geo- is translating which produces in it the echo of the
metrical settings. In addition, much of the scholar- original.’6 This paper considers various echoes of
ship on the Comedy points to the manner in which The Divine Comedy and the metamorphoses of its
rhythmic sounds, symbolic numbers, geometry, expanded body across verbal, visual, and spatial
and proportion interlock within a structured compo- media, while allowing that some of the spatial
sition to create a multi-dimensional poetic space, motifs that were incorporated in the poem have
traversed by a panoramic and didactic journey and their origins in a similar translation from works in
associated with transfigurations of the human other media, including architecture. The possibility
body. These considerations raise the interesting that the Divine Comedy might contain Dante’s
possibility that Dante might have drawn at least response to the architecture around him has not
partial inspiration from the real architectural master- been extensively discussed in the literature, with
pieces that he saw around him and that the poem some exceptions to be mentioned below.
might thus express spatial motifs that were familiar Terragni designed the Danteum project for the
to its readers, over and above its theological, 1942 Exposition in Rome (Fig. 1).7 Terragni chose
ethical, moral, and philosophical content. After all, to represent Dante, the poet, by representing his
Dante wrote Paradiso when he was exiled in creation, the poem. As already noted, this explicit
Ravenna and completed it when he was an ambas- connection to the Divine Comedy gives the project
sador to Venice; both cities are home to pre- its special significance. The hermetic closure of
eminent Byzantine structures.4 In this sense, Terragni the building as a whole evokes less the form of
might have traveled, in the opposite direction, a a statue, the typical mode of representation
bridge between architecture and poetry that was which reconstitutes presence, and more the
already familiar to Dante. tomb/cenotaph, which normally monumentalises
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Figure 1. The
Danteum: view of
the computer model
(top left); proportioning
system (top right);
axonometric drawing
(middle); plans of
upper and lower
levels (bottom).
(Copyright: the author.)
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absence. The drawings reveal a deceptively simple 2. The building in the poem
box-like building whose plan is organised in four The Divine Comedy is organised in three parts,
parts: first, an entrance court open to the sky; Inferno, Purgatory and Paradise, set in an ascending
adjacent to it, an area with a dense regular grid of spatial hierarchy. A similar hierarchy is expressed in
columns; on one side of these spaces, two religious architecture. The labyrinth patterns on
rooms intended as representations of Inferno and church floors have commonly been seen as represen-
Purgatory; on the second floor, over the grid of tations of the underworld while the vaults are taken
columns, Paradise represented by a similar grid of to represent the heavens.8 Scholars have suggested
glass columns. In addition to the architectural more particular analogies between spatial motifs
drawings, a set of watercolours by Terragni shows present in the poem and in churches. Thus, Croce
the interior spaces and the façade. An accompany- likened the structure and symbolism of the Celestial
ing text, the Relazione Sul Danteum, sets out to Rose in canto 30 and 31 of Paradise to the rose
explain design intentions; it begins with general windows of gothic cathedrals which are in turn
rhetoric on monumentality, symbolism, fascist often seen as cosmic symbols.9 The labyrinthine
ideals and how to adhere to these. Its special interest underworld or a rose-like celestial world is part of a
lies in suggesting explicit and specific connections to long-lasting structure of meaning, which permeates
the Comedy. Particular design decisions are justified architecture and poetry alike. The comparison
by analogy to aspects of the formal compositional between the poem and architecture, however, can
structure of the poem, including numerical relation- also be pursued at a deeper structural level, as also
ships, as will be discussed later. indicated by Croce. The relationship between parti-
The Danteum project raises larger questions than cular episodes and the overall setting described in
the ones addressed in the relazione. Going beyond the poem resonates with the manner in which ‘the
Terragni’s own account of his design intentions, this picturesque sculptures and decorations . . . were
paper questions how the internal logic of architec- not independent, artistic wholes in themselves, but
ture, as a symbolic medium, transforms aspects rather architectonic parts determined and inspired
of the poem: how might architecture enrich our by the spirit of the edifice.’10
understanding of the Comedy in ways which would Against this background, the contention that the
otherwise not be available? The question is discussed Divine Comedy bears a particular connection to the
in three parts: part one considers the possibility that Byzantine church becomes more compelling on
architecture underlies the poem already; part two several grounds; first, the geography of Dante’s life
examines visual images based on the poem; part lends the hypothesis some plausibility, as noted
three looks at the Danteum to see how meaning above; second, there are specific similarities
has been projected and transformed. A computer between the spatial hierarchy of the iconography
model of the Danteum is used to examine some present in the Byzantine church and the spatial
potential experiential dimensions of the building. form of Dante’s Paradise; third, there is an analogy
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between ritual movement in the church and the the dome, represents heaven and paradise, while
narrative trajectory in the poem; fourth, from a the ‘omphalion’ at the southeast quadrant of the
more formal point of view, the geometry of the ‘naos’ represents the centre of the earth, said to
Byzantine church, with the emphasis on circles, be in Jerusalem. The ‘bema’ represents the most
spheres and circular arcs that can be viewed from sacred space beyond heaven (similar to Dante’s
converging or diverging perspectives, resonates Empyrean), and heaven itself. Within the ‘bema’,
more readily with the geometry which is implicit in the altar represents the sacrifice of Jesus and the
Dante’s text, acting almost as a direct visualisation transformation of wine and bread into his blood
of some spatial patterns described in the poem. In and flesh that are offered to the faithful to provide
the discussion below, Hagia Sophia is taken as an eternal life. In the depth of the ‘bema’, inside the
exemplification of a more abstract model for conch is the ‘synthronon’, the twelve seats and a
Byzantine churches. In this context, it must also be throne, where Jesus and the twelve apostles will sit
noted that Terragni refers to the design of the when the Kingdom of God comes. The ‘prothesis’
Basilica Maxentius to explain the scale and under- to the left of the ‘bema’, where bread and wine
lying geometry of the plan; the Basilica was are brought prior to the transformation, may
comparable to the Hagia Sophia and closely represent the place of the birth of Jesus.15
resembled it in plan.11 The regulation of presence and movement in the
Numerical relationships are important to the Hagia Sophia restricts different categories of
structure of the poem and,12 as we will see, to people to specific areas in the church. Only the
Terragni’s design of the Danteum; they are also Emperor and the priests could venture beyond the
deeply embedded in the design of the church central domed space, the ambo, and the altar
(Fig. 2a). The square base of the dome of Hagia itself. Others were restricted depending on their
Sophia measures 100
100 Byzantine feet and position in the ecclesiastical hierarchy.16 There
there are 100 cantos in The Divine Comedy. 13 The were four categories of people according to the
narthex is 33 Byzantine feet (the age of Christ) in extent of their admittance into the church. Those
width and there are 33 cantos in each section of that were ‘crying and repenting’ were kept to the
The Divine Comedy. 14 These numerical relationships outer-narthex; those in ‘the process of reception’
are further evidence that poem and building are were allowed in the narthex itself; those ‘kneeling
subject to the same underlying tradition of to receive pardon’ were allowed in the area
formal meaningfulness. However, the more specific between the dome and the narthex and had to
arrangement of space in the church holds greater return to the narthex at a particular point in the
interest from the point of view of the poem. liturgy; ‘novices’ and those ‘co-standing’ were
The ‘atrium’ and the ‘narthex’ together represent allowed up to a point under the main dome and
the earthly realm—the creation of earth and being had to retreat to the narthex after the reading of
on earth. The main ‘naos’, the square under the gospel; they were not allowed to receive holy
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Figure 2a. Hagia

Sophia: plan. (Base
drawing from E. M.
Antoniadis, Ekphrasis of
Hagia Sophia, Volume 1
[Athens: P. D.
Sakellarios, 1907].)
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communion. The ‘baptised’ and those ‘pardoned’ and the gradation of light resonates with the
were in the main area, the square under the association between light and purity, or darkness
dome. They had a right to Holy Communion. and punishment, in the poem.
Important people stood by the eastern pillars. A second spatial ordering is revealed in section
Beyond this area was the most restricted space (Fig. 2b), particularly when the relationship
accessible only to priests and the Emperor. This between building shape and iconography is taken
spatial hierarchy is essentially organised along a into account. In the Hagia Sophia the iconographical
horizontal progression from the earthly to the scheme follows a hierarchy similar to that of Dante’s
heavenly realm. The same progression underlies Paradise: Christ at the centre of the dome; the Sera-
the narrative of The Divine Comedy. Scholars phim angels with six wings on the four supporting
writing on the Hagia Sophia, and Michelis in squinches; on the side walls and in a vertical order
particular, point out that this progression is linked from top to bottom there are angels, then seven
to a transition from the darker narthex to the areas prophets, church leaders, and seven archbishops;
with enhanced light within the church.17 The on the great western arch is the Virgin Mother
dome, in particular, draws attention towards it with Peter to the north and Paul to the South,
because it is inundated with light. The aisles while the great eastern arch has the preparation
and nave have less light. The association between for the second coming of Christ, John the Baptist
the hierarchy of acceptance into the Church to the south and the Virgin Mother on the north;

Figure 2b. Hagia

Sophia: section. (Base
drawing as 2a.)
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the arches over the altar depict archangels Michael to the ethereal outer higher levels. This is the point
in the north, Gabriel in the south, Saint Mandilios of view created both in The Divine Comedy and in
in the middle, and the Virgin Mother on the conch the Byzantine church.
holding Jesus. This iconographical scheme is not
unique to Hagia Sophia by any means but is quite 3. The paintings of the poem
common to other Byzantine churches such as A study of most folios that have the complete set of
that of Dafni and Hosias Lukas. Hierarchy in the illustrations for The Divine Comedy by an individual
mosaics of any Byzantine church is exhibited artist show the Inferno to be visually the most
through form and sequence. For instance, Christ compelling of the three realms.20 Artists who have
Pantocrator is in the heavenly sphere of the chosen to depict only certain parts of the Comedy
cupola, the Evangelic cycle is in the squinches, have specifically singled out Inferno. To a certain
the theologians in the higher vaults, and finally the extent this bias can be justified through the very
cycle of saints in the lowest—the terrestrial vivid use of visual imagery in the description of this
zone of the church. The higher an image is placed realm when compared to that of Purgatory, and
in the interior of the church, the more sacred it is Paradise.21 Moreover, the imagery described is an
considered to be. Centrality and distance from the extreme version of landscapes seen on earth with
physical ground plane seem to be especially signifi- an added dimension of suffering. The Inferno also
cant. This centripetal geometry, which is also entails intense descriptions of the boundary con-
common in the mediaeval church,18 is of particular ditions between successive circles of hell and of
interest when explored in relation to the spatial the difficulties involved in making the transition
scheme constructed in The Divine Comedy. As across them. In the much more abstract description
Robin Evans has pointed out, the universe as of Paradise, transitions are not associated with the
described in Dante’s Convivio was the astronomers’ crossing of describable boundaries.
nest of spherical shells, while in The Divine This difference in the three realms is immediately
Comedy, much like the centralised churches, the apparent if one considers Botticelli’s folio (Figs 3a,
same universe was disclosed as successive rings 3b). While his drawings of Inferno are vivid in all
along an axis of descent or ascent, the axis being their gory details, in Paradise he seems to be
the route of Dante’s journey as well as the line of almost at a loss as to what to paint, so much so
his narration of it.19 Evans thus imagines two kinds that drawing after drawing of this realm depicts
of projections deriving from the same underlying Dante and Beatrice in a vacant circle fluttering like
model, a complete nest of spheres seen from butterflies. This is especially true for cantos where
outside and a partial view of the same seen from there are no references to specific images such
the inside. The partial view from within is what as the ladder, the cross, or the eagle. At the same
we, who live inside the system, are permitted to time his drawings of Inferno show many architec-
have. It cuts through the heavier inner lower levels tural elements like walls, towers, and gates (used
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Figure 3a. Selection

from Botticelli’s
drawings of Inferno.

Figure 3b. Selection

from Botticelli’s
drawings of Paradise.
(Figures 3a and b:
Sandro Botticelli, The
drawings of Sandro
Botticelli for Dante’s
Divine Comedy: after
the originals at the
Berlin museums and the
Vatican [New York and
London: Harper and
Row Publishers and
Thames and Hudson,
1976]. Original
drawings for Inferno
credited to bpk
Berlin/Staatliche
Museen zu Berlin —
Kupferstichkabinett/
Joerg P. Anders and
in a very figurative manner), all of which are the Vatican Museum;
entirely absent in his drawings of Paradise. As if to for Paradise credited
to Staatliche Museen
compensate, the latter have a clearer architectonic
zu Berlin —
structure arising from the formation of distinct Kupferstichkabinett
geometric shapes, usually projections of circles, und Sammlung der
within which Dante and Beatrice are placed. Zeichnungen;
Botticelli’s folio, therefore, is an especially fascinat- photography,
Gerhard Kilian.)
ing document with respect to the issue of translation
across symbolic forms. It reveals many of the
limitations involved in the translation from descrip-
tion to depiction even when description is already
focused upon visual and spatial patterns.
Some of the same issues arise when we examine
the work of other artists. The depiction of the
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Figure 4. Architectural Inferno is the most vivid; Purgatory, except for

motifs in painting. Top: certain cantos that have lush landscapes, is stark,
photographs showing
and Paradise becomes an exercise in geometry, as
the main dome of Hagia
Sophia. Bottom: seen in some fourteenth/fifteenth century Italian
Gustave Doré’s images illustrations. Perhaps to compensate for the topo-
of Paradise. (Top right: graphical vagueness of Paradise some illustrators
Rowland J. Mainstone, diverge from the text by introducing planetary
Hagia Sophia:
gods and their abodes, which are actually not
Architecture, Structure
and Liturgy of mentioned in Dante’s text. Pope-Hennesy specifically
Justinian’s Great Church notices the difference between the literal represen-
[London: Thames & tations generally inspired by the text of the Inferno
Hudson, 1988, 1997]; and Purgatory and the less explicit representations
top left: E. M.
supported by the text of Paradiso in his comparison
Antoniadis, Ekphrasis of
Hagia Sophia, Volume 1 of the latter with Giovanni di Paolo’s paintings of
[Athens: P. D. paradise, which he describes as ‘composed of a fourteenth/fifteenth century illuminations where
Sakellarios, 1907]; chain of factual images’.22 Much later, in the landscape was used as a mnemonic device. The
bottom: Charles Taylor nineteenth century, Doré offers another interesting emphasis in all of Dali’s watercolours is upon
and Patricia Finley,
point of comparison; he succeeded in providing the transfiguration of the body. The drawings of
Images of the Journey in
Dante’s Divine Comedy Paradise with figural form, but in doing so he Inferno give prominence to the monumentality of
[New Haven: Yale created an impression of looking up at the heavenly the suffering-body; one almost feels that a sculpture
University Press, 1997].) dome inside a cathedral. In his case, the relationship is placed on a stage set for the benefit of a viewing
between poem and painting seems to be structurally audience.25 In canto I of Purgatory, ‘The Fallen
mediated by architecture (Fig. 4). Angel’, the focus is on looking inward into oneself,
Modern depictions of The Divine Comedy place which is represented by the empty drawers of the
emphasis on characters and events rather than the angel, and Paradise canto XV, ‘Dante’s Ecstasy’,
surrounding landscape.23 Take for instance Dalı́’s shows the underlying connection of the body with
drawings showing Charon carrying the souls on the divine, with light shooting out from the cross
the River Acheron; or the appearance of Dis in towards the angelic form, which is either form, or
Inferno; or ‘The Fallen Angel’, ‘The Heaven of disintegrating towards the cross. These paintings
Mercury’ and ‘The Preparation for the Final Prayer’, do not represent familiar states but seek to trans-
inspired by scenes in Purgatory; or indeed his form modes of perception that have typically
drawings of Paradise: they all describe human become associated with the poem (Fig. 5).
character rather than the setting.24 The human Terragni’s architectural project can be read more
body, not landscape, seems to draw all attention. easily as a metaphorical statement about the
This attitude is in complete contrast to the transfigurations of the human body than as an
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Figure 5. Selection
from Dalı́’s paintings of
Inferno and Paradise.

attempt to represent or to stage the environmental 4. The poem in the building

settings described in the poem. In this context, 4.1 Personification of the column
the difficulty of depicting paradise is resolved in an More than Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid, The
ingenious way that directly bears on the dual func- Divine Comedy provides a complete geography and
tion of physical structures in architecture, both as spatialisation of the world of the dead; in the other
devices which transform and organise space and two epic journeys, the visit to the underworld con-
as material constructions subject to the laws of stitutes only one episode, however central to the
physics. overall narrative. Yet, the uniqueness of The Divine
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Comedy resides in more than spatialisation. In subordination.’27 His explanation of the divisions
addition to bringing together epic poetry, myths within each of the spaces in the Danteum, places
and philosophy in a new way, the poem gives explicit emphasis on the ideological significance in the
and pervasive prominence to the poet as subject.26 choice of certain numbers like 7. Both the spaces
The oscillation between depictions of settings and dedicated to the Inferno and Purgatory have 7 recur-
depictions of the transfigured body that were sive divisions. This bears no persuasive connection to
discussed above can be see in a new light if set the poem. Dante’s Inferno has nine rings and his
against this curious dichotomy whereby the same Purgatory seven ledges plus two terraces and
poem is both an act of description of previously Earthly Paradise. Nevertheless, Terragni justifies his
vague poetic and mythological geographies or choice of 7 divisions for both Inferno and Purgatory
spaces, and an act of self discovery. The poetic by suggesting that in the Inferno souls are punished
map becomes a medium through which emotions for transgressions provoked by the seven sins, and
are expressed. The Danteum succeeds in capturing that Dante has extended this notion further into
this particular and rather central aspect of the what he calls ‘some finer-grained subdivisions.’ In
poem. As a building it is certainly a setting. What emphasising 7, Terragni seems influenced by what
it provides, like all buildings, is a pattern of he takes as the broader symbolic attributes of the
embodied experience. What it speaks of, however, number, which historically stands for completeness,
is the condition of the body. a combination of the spiritual, or the soul (3), and
This statement will be supported by a study of the the worldly, or the body (4), and for creation—the
project but not by Terragni’s own account. In the Sabbath, the day of rest after creation—seven days
Relazione, Terragni concentrates on the compo- of the week, seven ages of the world, seven sins,
sitional and numerical similarities between the among others.
Comedy and the Danteum. The entire Divine The golden-section rectangle was chosen as the
Comedy is replete with numbers that had symbolic fundamental geometrical principle that operates
meaning attributed to them. Terragni’s insistence through the entire project. The choice of this form
regarding the adoption of particular numbers is is questionable since it has no connection with The
clearly aimed at establishing a relation to this Divine Comedy. In point 6 of the Relazione he
symbolic tradition. This is particularly apparent in writes: ‘there is only one rectangle that clearly
his statement that, ‘architectural monument and expresses the harmonic law of unity in the Trinity,
literary work can adhere to a singular scheme and this is the rectangle known historically as the
without losing, in this union, any of each work’s “golden”; the rectangle, that is, whose sides are in
essential qualities only if both possess a structure the golden ratio (the short side is to the long side
and a harmonic rule that can allow them to confront as the long side is to the sum of the two sides).
each other, so that they may then be read in a geo- One is the rectangle, three are the segments that
metric or mathematical relation of parallelism or determine the golden ratio.’ In applying the
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golden-section rectangle Terragni imagines that he such as the narrow spaces at the margins of both
brings the concept of the infinite into the design: buildings (Fig. 6).
the rectangle can be decomposed successively into The application of one and three is observed all
a square and a smaller golden rectangle. through the Danteum and is further justified by
He also sees this scheme as relating his work to what Terragni calls the ‘symmetrical’ division of the
ancient monuments of the Assyrians, Egyptians, poem, wherein three canticle, each containing
Greeks, and Romans. Lionel March’s recent work thirty-three cantos and an extra canto in the first
has underscored that such prioritisation of ‘the canticle, result in a total of 100—the symbol of
extreme to mean ratio’ is a modern construct perfection (a square of ten which can also be inter-
imposed upon history.28 Its apparent applicability preted as (3
3) þ 1). A similar rule is employed in
in the Basilica Maxentius suited Terragni since this the marble coursing of the building, where there
was seen as a reminder of the unity of church and are three courses of equal height and one string
empire.29 Moreover, this relationship enabled him course that corresponds to the level of each of
to determine the dimensions of the Danteum, as the three rooms. In addition to this, for Etlin the
he explains, ‘the long side of the Danteum was relation of the golden-section rectangle to ancient
equal to the short side of Basilica.’ Thus the Basilica architecture echoes certain ideas of Mathila Ghyka
Maxentius helped him determine the form, dimen- with which Terragni and Lingeri were familiar, so
sion, and the orientation of the Danteum. Once much so that illustrations of construction with the
resolved, the numerical law of one and three that logarithmic spiral of the whirling squares from
he perceived in The Divine Comedy was integrated Ghyka’s books were directly borrowed.31
by the ‘superimpos[ition of] two rules, one geo- In particular, the articles on Corbusier’s use of the
metric, the other numerical . . . to achieve equili- golden-section rectangle in Villa Stein and the
brium and logic in the selection of dimensions, Mundaneum project were well received by Sartoris,
spaces, heights, and thicknesses for the purpose of who wanted to draw connections between this
establishing a plastic [arti]fact of absolute values, practice, Mediterranean architecture, and con-
spiritually chained to Dantesque compositional temporary Rationalist architecture. These ideas
criteria.’30 Schumacher’s analytical drawings take were debated in the Rationalist circles of which
Terrangni’s statements as a point of departure and Terragni was a part. Terragni’s use of the ‘the extreme
show the fit of the Danteum in the Basilica and to mean ratio’ as the generating figure for the
the adherence of both buildings to the same project and his justification for its use is a completely
proportional system and pattern of overlapping new construct by him and is not prefigured in any of
squares. Schumacher’s analysis also suggests the writings on the Comedy or in the work itself.
that the retaining wall of the Basilica is in This could be considered as a metamorphosis of
dialogue with the freestanding wall of the Dante’s shaping of the three realms, which in itself
Danteum, and highlights additional similarities is a transformation of pre-existing ideas. Its function
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Figure 6. Schumacher’s
proportional
comparisons of the
Danteum and the
Basilica Maxentius.
(After T. L. Schumacher,
The Danteum: A Study
in the Architecture of
Literature [Princeton:
Princeton Architectural
Press, 1993].)
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seemed more to provide intellectual as well as per- Figure 7. Poetics of the

ceptual reassurance that there was an overall unity column in the Danteum.
From top to bottom: the
to the project despite the pronounced difference in
forest of columns in the
treatment of the three major rooms that correspond courtyard, the
to the three realms. compressed stone
The emphasis on numbers and numerical relations columns in Inferno, the
establishes a purely formal link between poem and transparent glass
columns in Paradise.
building, which cannot really offer an account of
(Copyright: the author.)
the main design idea. At best it lends apparent
credibility to the claim that both works are governed
by similar abstract principles of wider import. From
the point of view of design, numbers seem to
explain the manner in which the project is elaborated
and detailed but not the manner in which it is gene-
rated. What the Danteum does above all else, as
architecture, is stage the column; not the column
as a structural element, but the column as a device
that organises space, or as a figure that makes
claims over space in its own right. In staging the
column as a means and also as an end of spatial
organisation the Danteum sets itself up to face
both the classical tradition for which the column is
the main bearer of the definition of the orders of
architecture, and the modern perception of the
column as a minimal structural element that frees
the organisation of space. The visitor would first con-
front one hundred travertine columns placed on a
10
10 grid on the deep side of the courtyard.
These can be taken to represent the forest in which
the poet is lost at the beginning of the poem; or,
they can be taken to represent a human multitude,
a society, if we allow the column to stand for the
human body.32 The dense spacing of the columns
would result in groups of visitors coming to be sepa-
rated as they traverse the area (Fig. 7).
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The second view of columns, in the room repre- by the design of the Danteum. The floor separating
senting the Inferno, is predictably more dramatic. these columns from the forest of columns below
Seven columns of decreasing radius are centered would itself be made of glass blocks. Glass beams
on an arrangement of squares successively inserted would mark the grid lines on the ceiling. Transpar-
within golden section rectangles, so as to suggest ency and light would create an ethereal feel. As
a spiral. The first and largest column is facing the the columns become transparent and demateria-
entrance, while the smallest is further back. Each lised, so the views of other visitors would become
column supports a corresponding and detached blurred, refracted and reflected, potentially to create
portion of the ceiling, at variable heights, in pro- a pattern of co-presence at undecipherable intervals
portion to column radii; light comes in through the of distance. The columns themselves could represent
gaps thus created, as if to emphasise the fracture the pure souls of angels described in the Comedy.
of the overall structure. The floor sections are also The possibility that columns stand for people is
sunk by proportional increments, creating horizontal supported by a sketch of one of the earlier
discontinuity. The dislocation of floor and ceiling schemes for the Danteum, where Terragni wrote
sections creates a sense of shear distortion under ‘Virgil’ next to a column (Fig. 8). In his study of the
the effects of weight. The play of light, scale Danteum, Schumacher adopts this interpretative
and materials creates a crushing atmosphere of connection and links it to the humanist tradition.
heaviness and darkness.33 The columns could be But in order fully to appreciate the significance of
considered as representing the shades. A secondary Terragni’s manner of staging the column it is import-
effect of the disposition of the columns is strongly to ant to consider how bodies feature in the poem.
differentiate the surrounding space, much as the Throughout the Comedy, there is great stress
Inferno is a strongly differentiated landscape. placed on the contrast between Dante’s body and
Columns are entirely absent in the room represent- the souls of the dead, some of who long for their
ing Purgatory. The floor steps up in proportional inter- living body while suffering.34 In the Inferno bodies
vals, over square sections arranged according to are classified in a strongly discontinuous landscape,
principles similar to those applied in the Inferno. The as if to create a map of both sin and punishment.
room is open to the sky; there are only small zones The map is stable given that those suffering are
covered by slabs and a pattern of beams that reso- placed at one position and under one punishment
nates with the arrangement of the floor. Thus, one for all time. In Purgatory the bodies are indirectly
is given the strong impression that the absent referenced by their shadow, or its absence.35 In
columns could be provisionally replaced by the transi- Paradise space is only differentiated according to
ent bodies of visitors and distributed over this strati- the intensity of light and the presence of bodies,
fied environment as if in the landscapes of Purgatory. however dematerialised.36 Thus, the body forms
The 33 glass columns representing Paradise are the map in Paradise, while the map situates the
the most daring architectonic innovation envisaged body in the Inferno. A continuing tension between
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The personification of columns is not uncommon Figure 8. Terragni’s

in Byzantine architecture. Procopius, stresses the sketch personifying the
column as Virgil. (From:
stones with which columns are clad, especially
T. L. Schumacher, The
their colour.37 Paul the Silentiary also extols the Danteum: A Study in
colours of materials that clad the columns, particu- the Architecture of
larly silver which gives the impression of light Literature [Princeton:
emanating from them.38 The main function of Princeton Architectural
Press, 1993].)
architecture in the Byzantine church, however, is to
represent a cosmology and an order of faith and of
acceptance into a faith. It is precisely this aspect of
buildings that seems to provide the architectonic
principle as well as some of the organising spatial
motifs and images for the poem, as discussed pre-
viously. In the Danteum, by contrast, rhetorical
emphasis shifts towards the description of subjective
conditions. If the churches of the high Byzantine
tradition express certainty about the cosmos as a
precondition for claiming authority over the
subject, the Danteum foregrounds passions as
points of departure for exploring aspects of a
cosmos. The building that results from the poem is
thus quite different not only in form but also in
underlying affective motivation from the building
that might have been tacitly embedded in the
poem. The two buildings express divergent ways
of constituting poetic space that are in tension
within the poem.

what is being described and what is being narrated 4.2 Structures of experience
ensues. The manner in which columns stand as As a building designed to recollect a poetic journey,
figures and as devices that organise space resonates the Danteum is surprisingly unresponsive to our
with this tension. As figures, they are part of a nar- normal ideas of an architectural promenade or pro-
rative; the physical conditions that they exemplify, cession. The plan as a whole suggests that bound-
metaphorically express feelings; their relationships aries, not continuities, are the prominent concern.
situate subjects within spatial settings. It defines a tightly knit system of overlapping
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and back: the Danteum
Aarati Kanekar

distinctions: seen from above, the overall arrange- framed open view to the sky, just as one comes
ment suggests a four-way partition whereby the out from the darker and fractured space of
courtyard quadrant is used to complete the orthog- Inferno; similarly, the last verse of Purgatory, ‘. . .
onal shape defined by the other three quadrants cor- pure and ready to rise to the stars’ resonates with
responding to the realms of Inferno, Purgatory and the stair leading from Purgatory to Paradise (Fig. 9).
Paradise; looked at in its own right, the ground Within each of the realms, however, the Danteum
floor suggests a lateral bisection into the side of seems to provide a strong sense of immersion. One
earthly life and the side of the underworld; the is not merely situated inside a space, as with a
section emphasises more the hierarchical layering church; rather, one is placed between the columns,
between heaven and earth. As with all buildings, brought to circulate around them, drawn to
progression from one area to the next is possible, meander through them; even in Purgatory, one is
but thresholds are handled so as to emphasise dis- brought to occupy the bases of absent columns.
continuity rather than flow, consistent with the cor- As previously suggested, columns are simul-
responding organisation of the poem: the taneously boundaries and figures. Their perceptual
concluding verse of Inferno ‘. . . and thence we prominence, both visual and haptic, is all the more
issued forth to see again the stars’, for example, is obvious as the floor under one’s feet is continuously
directly picked up by the manner in which the first brought into question, as if to destabilise any expec-
perception of the Purgatory room includes a tation normally associated with the design of

Figure 9. Stills of the

Courtyard, Inferno,
Purgatory, Paradise, and
Empyrean from the
computer walk-through
model of the Danteum.
(Copyright: the author.)
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buildings. At the same time, each of the realms space seemingly suspended in air, due to the
affords panoramic overviews, almost like a land- translucent floor and glass roof, a space leading to
scape that presents itself both as a relatively stable a floating axial extension, the Empyrean. There
horizon and as a network of places yet to be would be views through the roofs, down towards
explored. The tight control of overall geometry, the the enigmatic spaces of Purgatory and Inferno. Still
adherence to a proportional system, and the consist- visible, the solid floor of the courtyard would offer
ent treatment of wall surfaces would seem to a contrast to the elevated floor of Paradise. The
suggest a unifying intellectual rigour aimed at con- Empyrean would thus appear as a representation
taining what is otherwise such a strongly diversified of the congregation of believers, a space that can
collection of intense spatial experiences. be shared with God and that could be entered
The Empyrean, therefore, emerges as the most directly from the profane world, avoiding the
enigmatic space in the building. It is the only space horrors of the long journey of redemption.
that a visitor could miss if, having explored Paradise, Seen in this manner, the building would empha-
they chose to take the stairs leading back to the sise not so much a gradual ascent with nested
entrance. At the same time, it is the only space spiraling motions, but rather a classificatory order
that mediates between all three realms. Directly of conditions that can be contemplated from a
connected to Paradise, it affords views into both distance. The point here is not to suggest that, had
Inferno and Purgatory positioned as it is over their the building been built, both potential directions of
shared boundary. From the Empyrean, the architec- entry would be equally open to visitors. Rather, the
tural journey is suddenly revealed in overview issue is one of resolving a necessary paradox. The
and the conceptually simple organisation of the journey across the three realms culminates in
building can be fully understood. The rigorous Paradise, but the visit to any building leads back
experiential sequence from Inferno to Paradise is to the point of entry: a potential anti-climax. By
now complemented by a more holistic glimpse offering the overview from the Empyrean, Terragni
from the point of view of heaven. Intellectually, constructs a manner in which the building can be
the understanding of Heaven is the key to the remembered, not merely as a journey that had to
understanding of Hell. According to many Dante end, but as an insight that might last, not merely
scholars, this is evidenced in the Vita Nuova, which as a succession of views but also as a tension
they consider as an antechamber to The Divine between points of view and modes of experience.
Comedy. 39 After all, the poem itself ends with an apparent
Should one take an alternative route, and ascend pause, with an awareness of cyclical motion repla-
from the entrance way directly up to Paradise and cing the cumulative experience of the journey: ‘. . .
through to the Empyrean, as if entering The Divine my desire and my will were revolved, like a wheel
Comedy from Vita Nuova, a unique experience that is evenly moved, by the Love which moves the
would be generated. The flight of steps leads to a sun and the other stars.’
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5. Non-referential meaning be answered more clearly. In what exactly consists

The fact that some of the central myths of a culture the act of design formulation that produces the
are distributedly recorded over many different works Danteum?
in different symbolic media is rather familiar. Thus, it It would be tempting to accommodate much of
is not particularly surprising that an individual work the preceding discussion within a referential theory
of art of special significance can acquire an extended of meaning. The 100 travertine columns refer to
body comprising subsequent re-statements in media the 100 cantos of the poem, the 33 columns of
other than the original. The question we have to ask Paradise refer to the corresponding 33 cantos,
is not why The Divine Comedy, having already served and, of course, the 3 main rooms refer to the
as a point of departure for paintings or sculptures corresponding realms described in the poem.
was also to serve as a point of departure for There would of course be problems as noticed
architectural design. This question only calls for a earlier: the 7 columns in the hall of Inferno do not
circumstantial and historical answer that is very correspond to the 9 main categories of sin that
much linked to the status of the poem in Italian Dante uses to structure his narrative; the 7 vacant
culture at the time as well as to the aims of both podia in the hall of Purgatory correspond much
client and architect. The possibility that the poem, better to the 7 terraces described by Dante but
prior to inspiring specific architectural designs, was leave out the 4 categories of sinners in the ante-
itself inspired by architectural precedents expressing purgatory. However one responds to such inconsis-
some of the same underlying mythological themes tencies, an emphasis upon such lexical reference
simply confirms that some manner of transmutation fails to deal with the specific qualities of the
from one medium to another is not only possible, architectural form created. Architecture is looked
but perhaps even expected. at only in order to return to the poem. More
What we have to ask instead is what, about a importantly, the relationships of the architectural
given work, changes as the symbolic medium elements to each other and the configurational
changes. If meaning is to some extent dependent patterns established in architecture are not taken
upon the medium in which it is constructed or into account.
expressed, then translations across media without One possible response would be to seek relation-
transformation, loss or accretion are impossible. ships of reference not at the lexical level of individual
Hence the more particular questions raised at the units but rather at the level of relationships. For
outset of this paper. What does our knowledge of example, the distortions of columns in Inferno,
The Divine Comedy contribute to our understanding both in proportion and in the relative elevation of
of Terragni’s design and what does the latter their bases and capitals, could refer to the suffering
contribute to our new understanding of the described in the poem. Even this argument,
Comedy? To some extent these questions are however, leaves something to be desired. It disallows
related to yet another question which can perhaps that the distortions of the columns offer direct
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intuitions of suffering that are comparable, if not relevant to both architecture and poetry. The
equivalent, to the intuitions communicated metaphors, for example, allow us to think about
through words. If we accept, as suggested in this experience and learning as a journey, of under-
paper, that such intuitions are indeed intimated, standing as seeing, of theory as panorama and of
reference would not be based on some arbitrary subjectivity as point of view. Precisely because
and conventional association as is typical with lin- these metaphors are so pervasive they may help
guistic symbols, but rather on the power of the us to understand how taking the poem as a
arrangement of columns to exemplify, and not programme of design is at all possible but they do
merely to denote, the idea of distortion, and, not help us to recognise in what ways design
through that, metaphorically to express suffering. formulation is specific.
If the argument were extended in this way, Once such specific and generic metaphors are set
however, the relation of reference between building in place, the design is developed not through reiter-
and poem would lose its import. The columns exem- ations of reference but through its own intrinsic
plify distortion and, if we read the metaphorical logic. At the deepest level of design formulation
association between column and body, potentially Terragni recognised that a monument is an
express suffering regardless of their power to extreme moment for architecture and, therefore,
evoke the particular part of The Divine Comedy. associated the design of the Danteum with a
The power of Terragni’s design resides in imbuing reflexive questioning of architecture’s fundamental
the building with formal properties which can premisses: ground, structure, support, stability,
thus express feelings, perceptions, insights and boundary. Given the decision to stage the column
conditions of the self. The reference to the poem is as both organisational device and figure, the funda-
retrospectively secondary. If the Danteum has any- mental design move seems to reside in associating
thing to contribute to our understanding of the the treatment of columns with the de-stabilisation
Comedy, it is precisely those independent intuitions of our normal expectations regarding ground and
that give us access to what is being described by sky, floor and ceiling. It is precisely because these
the words and independently made present by the expectations are violated that the walls, boundaries
poetry. The same applies to the work of Botticelli and thresholds acquire greater power as frames of
or Dali mentioned above. The link between the reference. Also, given this basic act of formulation,
poem and the building is most important at the other decisions follow naturally, including, for
moment when the key specific metaphor that example, the decision to use the forest of
drives the design gets established: the metaphor 100 columns in order to support a floor made of
that allows us to think about the body through glass blocks and 33 columns made of glass. A refer-
designing and arranging columns. It is less important ential theory of meaning, therefore, cannot account
at the moment when some fundamental metaphors for the power of the Danteum, even though refer-
that underpin all human thought are recognised as ence is so central to the programme of design. The
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From building to poem

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Aarati Kanekar

power of the Danteum, from the point of view of also grateful to Elizabeth Riorden, University of
this argument, resides in demonstrating how Cincinnati, for her help in editing this paper.
architecture can speak through arrangement even
in the absence of any pre-established vocabulary
of elements that would be equivalent to words.
The Danteum can speak of the body meta- Notes and References
NB. All English quotations of The Divine Comedy are from
phorically, by virtue of exemplifying a particular
Charles Singleton’s translations of the Divine Comedy.
architectural body and by virtue of engendering a
C. Singleton, The Divine Comedy, Bollingen Series LXXX
particular spatial experience literally. Its greater (Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1970).
success is perhaps its ability to bring together in a 1. P. Silentiarius. ‘Description S. Sophiae’ in C. Mango ed.,
new way two aspects of the poem that have The Art of the Byzantine Empire 312– 1453: Sources
sometimes been drawn apart in other media: and Documents, Dumbarton Oaks, Harvard University
the description of an objective setting and the (New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1972), pp. 82 (for
expression of a subjective condition. In part, this verse 398), 83 (for verses 489 and 506).
arises from the dual nature of the columns as 2. This poem has been a great resource for most histo-
figures and as spatial devices. In their latter capacity rians writing on Hagia Sophia and Byzantine churches
in general since it gives the fullest account of the
columns refract, reflect, rescale, reposition and
building as it was during Justinian’s reign.
redistribute the bodies of visitors at the same time
3. R. Krautheimer, Early Christian & Byzantine Architec-
as they exemplify their own metamorphoses and
ture (Baltimore: Penguin Books, 1965), pp. 160– 161.
reconfigurations. Rather than primarily reside in 4. There are records of Dante being an ambassador in
what is denoted, meaning arises from what is Venice, so he was obviously familiar with the Italian
being constructed in the medium of architecture. Gothic and Byzantine cathedral of San Marco. It is
If the building can contribute to the long chain of well known that he was in exile at Ravenna and wrote
allegory that permeates the poem, it can do so the Paradise section of The Divine Comedy there.
because like all good allegories it shows something Boccaccio’s Trattatello in Laude di Dante describes
that is quite rich in its own right. various other wanderings of the poet including his
initial study at Bologna, various Tuscan localities, in
exile when he initially fled to Verona, then Bologna,
Acknowledgement
Padua, Rome, Romany, and finally Ravenna. Refer to
This paper is partly based on my doctoral disser-
G. Boccaccio, The Life of Dante, in V. Bollettino tr.,
tation. I wish especially to thank my committee
volume 40, Series B, Garland Library of Medieval Litera-
members John Peponis, Kenneth Knoespel, ture (New York & London: Garland Publishing Inc.,
Ronald Lewcock, Georgia Institute of Technology; 1990).
Richard Martin, Stanford University; and Thomas 5. W. Benjamin, ‘The Task of the Translator’ in H. Arendt ed.,
Schumacher, University of Maryland, for their Illuminations (New York: Schocken Books, 1968), p. 73.
insights and efforts to see the work through. I am 6. Benjamin, ‘The Task . . .,’ op. cit., p. 76.
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7. Both Giuseppe Terragni and Pietro Lingeri were offi- galleries; the height of the first cornice; the mean
cially the architects of this project, but Schumacher’s height of the vaulting in the aisles and Narthex; the
extensive analysis attributes the seminal ideas to number of ribs, piers and windows of the dome, and
Terragni. T. Schumacher, The Danteum (Princeton: many other key dimensions. The reason for this being,
Princeton Architectural Press, 1993), p. 17. Etlin does that this in particular, is symbolic of the number of days
not agree with this and claims both to be equally Jesus spent in the desert in preparation for his role as
involved in the design process: R. Etlin, Modernism in teacher, the number of days he spent after resurrection
Italian Architecture, 1890–1940 (Cambridge: MIT and before rising to the heavens, and some other key
Press, 1991), pp. 517– 568. In this paper I refer to numbers. There are also 40 columns on the ground
Terragni as being the designer purely for convenience floor of the church. The four basic piers symbolise
since the subject of authorship is not of prime concern. the four evangelists. There are seven openings,
8. S. Lang. ‘Cosmology and Cartography: The Occident’, arches or windows at several places on the first floor,
in Encyclopedia of World Art, volume III, 1960, p. 841. again seven being a key number, seven days of the
9. Ibid., p. 841. creation of the world among other things. Some key
10. B. Croce, The Poetry of Dante (New York: Henry Holt dimensions are multiples of 12, symbolising the 12
and Co., 1922), p. 99. apostles. For instance, the length is 300, including
11. Refer to points 7, 10, and 13 in Terragni’s Relazione Sul narthex and apse in the east. The length of the main
Danteum document as published in T. Schumacher, volume inside is 240, also a multiple of 12.
The Danteum: A study in the Architecture of Literature 14. Refer to Antoniadis, Ekphrasis of Hagia Sophia, op. cit.,
(Princeton: Princeton Architectural Press, 1985), for detailed measurements of the Hagia Sophia.
pp.127–149. 15. Refer to Antoniadis, Ekphrasis of Hagia Sophia, op. cit.
12. J. Guzzardo, Dante: Numerological Studies, American 16. For a detailed discussion on the changes in the liturgi-
University Studies, Series II, Romance Languages and cal rituals and planning refer T. Mathews, The Early
Literature, Volume 59 (New York: Peter Lang, 1987); Churches of Constantinople: Architecture and Liturgy
C. Singleton, ‘The Poet’s Number at the Center’ in MLN, (University Park and London: The Pennsylvania State
80, no. 1 (1965), pp. 1–10; J. Logan, ‘The Poet’s University Press, 1971).
Central Numbers,’ in MLN,86, no. 1 (1971), pp. 95 – 17. P. Michelis, Aisthêtikós: Essays in Art, Architecture, and
98. Also see V. Hopper, Medieval Number Symbolism Aesthetics (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1977).
(New York: Columbia University Press, 1948). Of course Hagia Sophia had to reconcile the axial motif
13. All measures are in Byzantine feet. E. Antoniadis, of a basilica, indicating procession, and the idea of a
Ekphrasis of Hagia Sophia, Supplement (Athens: representation of the world based on a centralised
B. Gregoriades & Sons Co., 1983), p. 52. Other signifi- dome supported, essentially, by a polygon or cross plan.
cant numbers include 40, 12, and 7. Here the windows 18. G. Lesser, Gothic Cathedrals and Sacred Geometry
around the original dome were 40; it is also the (London: Alec Tiranti, 1957), p. 9.
number present in the diameter (in Byzantine feet) of 19. R. Evans, The Projective Cast (Cambridge: MIT Press,
the cylindrical opening; the diameter of the four 1995), p. 19.
exedras; it is present in the length from column to 20. Interestingly, in Romanesque art, especially the
column of the corner divisions of the aisles and tympanum reliefs of Vezelay, Autun, and Congres,
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Hell is much more visually exciting than Heaven (which After the Italian Government cancelled its commission
in Congres is depicted as orderly architecture). So one with Dalı́, a Frenchman, one Joseph Forêt, who had
can argue that Dante is in fact perpetuating a tradition. earlier published an original lithographic series by
21. A. Kanekar, The Geometry of Love and the Topography Dalı́ (Pages Choisies de Don Quichotte de la Mancha,
of Fear: On translation and metamorphosis from poem in 1957), decided to publish Dali’s Divine Comedy. In
to building (PhD Dissertation, Georgia Institute of April 1959, wood engravers (R. Jacquet and
Technology, 2000). See Appendix 1. J. Taricco) were hired by M.Forêt, to begin the
22. J. Pope-Hennessy, A Sienese Codex of The Divine process of transmogrifying Dalı́’s watercolour illus-
Comedy (Oxford & London: Phaidon Press Ltd., trations into wood blocks. This process would continue
1947), pp. 32 –33. until November 1963, and would result in 3,500
23. This is also true of William Blake’s paintings of The engraved wood blocks representing the one hundred
Divine Comedy such as those of Charon, Paolo and illustrations. (The reason for so many blocks is that
Francesca, the Usurers and the Angel Descending. each block represents either a distinct colour or a line
The significance given to the body in The Divine drawing.) The publication, the completed entire
Comedy is reflected in some other works based on edition of the Divine Comedy, was to be composed
the Comedy, including the avant-garde production of of six separate volumes, two volumes for each of the
Dante on television done by Peter Greenaway and three cantica: L’Enfer (Inferno); La Purgatoir (Purga-
Tom Phillips. This is even true of Rodin’s Gates of Hell tory), and La Paradis (Paradise), with Dante’s Italian
based upon Dante’s Divine Comedy, which is looked text translated into French (translation by Julien
upon as a summary of his entire life and is a supreme Brizeuxe). The first of the completed cantica, L’Enfer,
demonstration of the expressive powers given to the was published in Paris in 1960 by Editiones d’Art Les
human body. Heures Claires (M. Forêt’s company), in two volumes,
24. Dalı́, who was intrigued by Dante since his youth, later containing a total of thirty-four woodblock prints. In
was to say that what fascinated him most about Dante 1962, the second cantica, Le Purgatoire, also in two
was ‘his angelic vision of being’, and, ‘the cosmic side volumes, and with thirty-three prints, was released.
of God, incomprehensible for man, and reflected in the And lastly, on 23 November 1963, the final cantica,
mirror of the face of the angel’. In 1951, the Italian Le Paradis was issued; it too contains thirty-three
government, in preparation for the 700th anniversary prints.
of Dante’s birth (b.1265), commissioned Dalı́ to 25. Here I am referring to Inferno illustrations of cantos 4,
produce illustrations for a new edition of La Divina 5, 7, 11, 15, 21, 22, 26, 28, 29.
Commedia. Unfortunately, there was immediate 26. O. Paz, The Other Voice: Essays on Modern Poetry
opposition from two fronts: the ‘patriots’, who (New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers,
objected to the commission going to a Spaniard, and 1990), pp. 10 –11.
from the communists, who objected to the ‘waste’ 27. T. L. Schumacher, The Danteum: A study in the
of the people’s money. Finally, the Italian government Architecture of Literature, op. cit., point 5 of Relazione
yielded to the opposition and cancelled Dalı́’s commis- Sul Danteum.
sion. Dalı́ decided, nonetheless, to continue on with 28. L. March, The Architectonics of Humanism (Chichester:
the production of The Divine Comedy illustrations. West Sussex, Academy Editions, 1998).
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29. According to Etlin the Basilica was one of the largest O shade—in all except appearance empty! Three
extant Roman Imperial buildings that was nearly com- times I clasped my hands behind him and as often
plete when the Emperor was killed in battle in 312. It brought them back against my chest.’
was then dedicated by the Senate to the victorious 36. C. Singleton, The Divine Comedy, op. cit., Paradise,
Constantine whose statue was also erected in the ‘. . .yet even as coal engenders flame, but with intensity
apse of the basilica. The significant symbolic aspect glow outshines it, so that in the flame the coal per-
here is that Constantine had seen the vision of the sists. . .so will the brightness that envelops us be then
Cross when he conquered Rome and the combination surpassed in visibility by reborn flesh. . . .. One and
of all these aspects made the Basilica a particularly the other choir seemed to me so quick and keen to
important symbol for the Fascists. Refer to Etlin, say “Amen” that they showed clearly how they
Modernism in Italian Architecture, op. cit., p. 549. longed for their dead bodies—not only for themselves,
30. T. L. Schumacher, The Danteum: A study in the Archi- perhaps, but for their mothers, fathers, and for others
tecture of Literature, op. cit., Relazione Sul Danteum, dear to them before they were eternal flames.’
point 8. 37. Procopius of Caesarea, Buildings (Cambridge: Harvard
31. Etlin, Modernism in Italian Architecture, op. cit., University Press, 1996). Here he writes: ‘Or who could
pp. 551 –552, and p. 556. recount the beauty of the columns (kiones) and the
32. T. L. Schumacher, intro. by Giorgio Ciucci, The stones with which the church is adorned? One might
Danteum: architecture, poetics, and politics under imagine that he had come upon a meadow with its
Italian Fascism, (New York, NY: Princeton Architectural flowers in full bloom. For he would surely marvel at
Press, 2nd English edition, c. 1993), p. 91. the purple of some, the green tint of others, and at
33. The reference to atmosphere and feeling generated in those on which the crimson glows and those from
the Danteum is projected by means of a walk-through which the white flashes, and again at those which
computer model that was created. Nature, like some painter, varies with the most
34. C. Singleton, The Divine Comedy, op. cit., Inferno XII, contrasting colours.’
‘Have you noticed how he who walks behind moves 38. P. Silentiarius, ‘Description S. Sophiae’, verse 682 , op.
what he touches, dead souls are not accustomed to cit., p. 87. ‘. . . and they send forth their rays far and
do that.’ wide.’
35. C. Singleton, The Divine Comedy, op. cit., Purgatory II, 39. T. Bergin, Perspectives on the Divine Comedy (New
‘The souls who, noticing my breathing, sensed that I Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1967), pp. 10–
was still a living being, then, out of astonishment 11, and C. Singleton, ‘Pattern at the Center’ in Dante
turned pale . . . I saw one of those spirits moving Studies: Commedia. Elements of Structure, originally
forward in order to embrace me—his affection so published as Dante Studies I (Baltimore: John Hopkins
great that I was moved to mime his welcome. University Press, 1954, reprint 1977), pp. 57–58.