Cornell University Library Digital Collections

The Divine Comedy Described in Six Plates

Title:
The Divine Comedy Described in Six Plates
Full Title:
La materia della Divina commedia di Dante Alighieri dichiarata in VI tavole da Michelangelo Caetani
Collection:
Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
Creator:
Caetani, Michelangelo
Other Creator(s):
D. Oderisio Piscicelli Taeggi, artist
Date:
1855
Date posted:
2015-08-25
ID Number:
1071.07
Identifier:
PJM_1071_07.jpg
Subject:
Religion
Heaven and Hell
Allegorical
Extent:
(cm, H x W) 24.5 x 17.5 on sheet 32 x 23
Collector's Notes:
The tantalizing details in Dante's work led a number of medieval scholars and artists to attempt a topography of the Divine Comedy. "During the fifteenth century, the Florentine architect Antonio Manetti decided that one could gather the information presented in [The Inferno] and extrapolate from it to map out precisely the size, shape and location of Dante's Hell." Padron 2007, 261. For Manetti's images, see ID ##1004.01-.07.
Manetti's analysis was reflected in Botticelli's famous Chart of Hell and guided scholars and artists for centuries thereafter. Parker 2013, 87-89. Manetti's posthumous work presents "the first printed maps of Dante's hell and, as such, the beginning of a venerable tradition." Cachey 2007, 453. Venerable indeed: 350 years later, Michelangelo Caetani published "The Content of Dante's Divine Comedy Described in Six Plates" (ID ##1071.01-.07), applying modern chromolithography to Manetti's 15th Century ideas. Caetani, the Duke of Sermoneta, was a leading Dante scholar of his time. His work was printed by the monks at Monte Cassino.
See generally Padron 2007, 260-65. For critical views on the notion of mapping the Inferno from the text of Dante, see Gilbert 1945; Kleiner 1994.
Note:
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact
Source:
Caetani, Michelangelo. La materia della Divina commedia di Dante Alighieri dichiarata in VI tavole da Michelangelo Caetani. Montecassino: Monaci benedettini di Montecassino.
References:
For full details on references, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/references.
Rights:
For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.

About the collection

This is a collection of “persuasive” cartography: maps intended primarily to influence the opinion of the viewer -- to send a message -- rather than to communicate geographic information. The collection reflects a variety of persuasive tools: allegorical, satirical and pictorial mapping; selective inclusion or exclusion; unusual projections, graphics and text; and intentional deception. Maps in the collection address a wide range of messages: religious, political, military, commercial, moral and social.