Art, Realism, And Dante's Sheer Audacity: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24

Walking With Dante

The opening of PURGATORIO, Canto XII, becomes even stranger as the poet Dante claims that the art he’s about to see beneath his feet is even clearer than the actual events when they happened.

All well and good, until we remember this isn’t God’s art, as Dante wants us to believe. It’s Dante’s. And audacious.

Join me, Mark Scarbrough, as we explore the second half of the opening twenty-four lines of PURGATORIO, Canto XII.

Here are the segments for this episode of WALKING WITH DANTE:

[01:29] My English translation of the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24. If you'd like to read along or continue the conversation with me, please go to my website: markscarbrough.com.

[02:37] Virgil's call back to realism (or mimesis).

[04:30] Tombs and their signs (or symbolic language).

[09:56] Artifice as "realer" than real.

[21:00] Rereading the passage: PURGATORIO, Canto XII, lines 13 - 24.