Artist: Bartolomeo Pinelli
1825, Print, Italy
https://art.famsf.org/bartolomeo-pinelli/canto-xxiii-pl-47-linferno-di-dante-dantes-inferno-19633037283
Virgil and Dante continue their journey through the 8th circle of hell after secretly escaping from fighting devils that cause two of them fall in a pitch full of boiling tar. That situation causes the pilgrim to remember the Aesop Fable about a mouse and a deceitful frog who offered to carry a tiny animal across a river with a malicious intention of drowning him. Dante doesn’t even try to hide his overwhelming fear that enraged demons will eventually catch up to them. His agitation continues to build up making his “hairs curling with fear” (Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri, Canto XXIII, 19), which consequently creates suspense and tension. He suggests to his master to look for a hiding spot before the steamed up demons wind up at their side. Well, Dante’s intuition turns out to be very much on point because the devils appear in pursuit out of nowhere. At that very moment Virgil grabs Dante:
“… like a mother who is
awakened by the noise and sees the flames burning
close by,
who takes up her son and flees, caring more for
him than for herself, not stopping even to put on her
shift:” (Divine Comedy, Canto XXIII, 37-42)
Virgil slides down the rocky cliff with Dante in his arms straight into the sixth pouch, which is the home of hypocrites. Dante completely taken by surprise describes the speed of them moving down:
“Water has never cursed more swiftly down a
slice to turn the wheels of a land mill, as it
approaches the paddles,
than did my master down the wall, carrying
me along on his breast like his son, not his
companion.” (Divine Comedy, Canto XXIII, 46-51)
Once Virgil and Dante reach the sixth bolgia they are safe at least from the devils that chased them because they are not able to leave their assigned part of hell. Although at times devils seem to have power over damned souls in the end they are nothing but Divine’s tools eternally trapped in hell.
The scene described above, which appears a little comical to me, shows that Virgil puts Dante’s safety first. What I find even more interesting is the fact that Virgil is presented here not only as the pilgrim’s beloved master and the guide but also as a person with maternal feelings towards him.
