Map of the Inferno
description: Included in the Codex Altonensis, this diagram functions as a map of Dante’s passage through hell. Flanked by images of Dante and Virgil entering and subsequently exiting hell, the main body of the map consists of a descending spiral of text describing the steps of Dante’s journey. At the center, the map transitions to visual representation, depicting a three-faced Satan devouring Cassius, Brutus, and Judas at the center of Hell. The concentric rings and circular format of the map ressemble a cosmographical map, closely linking the manuscript to a contemporaneously recognizable scientific discourse. Dante’s Divinia Commedia, though a literary work, depended heavily on the realistic conceptualization of space, especially in the Inferno section. This primed the work for illustrative mapping, which was a common practice when crafting manuscripts of the text in the 14th century. (Patrick Wigent '19)
creator: Unknown
source: Hamburg, Bibliothek des Gymnasiums Christianeum, [Pal. 313, f. 7r ] [Sign. R 7/2, f. 5r]
publisher: Dante Alighieri. Divina Commedia: Codex Altonensis. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1965.
date: 1350x1410
contributor: Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
contributor: wigentp
rights: Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
relation: https://histgymbib.hypotheses.org/2350
format: Map in a book
language: Italian
type: Regional map
identifier: Carleton Gould Library Special Collections (Folio) PQ4301 .A1 1965