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Why Dante’s Journey Still Haunts Us
Even when all hope seems lost, Dante reminds us that redemption still waits if we’re willing to face what damns us.
Culture Explorer
May 08, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 11 minutes
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Hello and welcome to the May 8th edition of the Culture Explorer newsletter.
Today’s journey takes us deep into the soul of Italy—and beyond. We begin with the haunting legacy of The Divine Comedy, exploring why Dante’s vision of sin, grace, and redemption still resonates.
For premium subscribers, we go further:
You’ll find a powerful painting that brings Hell to life, monumental tombs that speak louder than words, and a four-day itinerary that makes Verona feel like your own living epic. A spotlight on Castel Brando, a fortress turned palace. A slice of tiramisu, both the recipe and the story. A closer look at Venice’s Carnival, where masks, history, and rebellion blend in the most beautiful disguise.
As always, we include a quote for reflection this one from Dante. We have also added a new feature to the free subscriber’s section is a calendar to inspire your next cultural outing.
Let’s dive in.
Most books don’t come with a warning. Dante’s Divine Comedy does. Before you even step foot in Hell, the gate tells you to abandon all hope. And for centuries, readers have done exactly that—descending with Dante into the frozen, burning, twisted heart of the human soul.
Dante and His Poem by Domenico di Michelino and Alesso Baldovinetti (1465).
Written in the early 1300s, The Divine Comedy is more than a poem, it’s a vision. It’s Dante’s account of his soul’s journey toward God, structured in three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. But while the destination is paradise, the most unforgettable part is the descent. Dante starts in a dark forest and soon finds himself walking through Hell’s nine circles, where sinners are punished with chilling imagination.
Dante didn’t invent this journey from scratch. He borrowed the structure of the cosmos from Ptolemy, placing Earth at the center, surrounded by nine spheres of Heaven and mirrored by nine circles of Hell below. Each realm is mapped like a real place. Jerusalem serves as the gateway to the underworld, and the mountain of Purgatory rises on the other side of the globe.
Dante Guided by Virgil Offers Consolidation to the Spirits of the Envious by Hippolyte Flandrin (1835) at the Musée des Beaux Arts, Lyon
The punishments in Hell aren’t random. They’re symbolic, and they escalate. Lust gets you tossed around in a storm. Gluttons lie in filthy slush. But for Dante, sin gets worse the more it involves the will. So, violence is terrible, but fraud is worse. And at the bottom of Hell is treachery, not fire, but ice. Even Satan is frozen, flapping his wings in vain as he devours history’s greatest traitors.
Sandro Botticelli’s Map of Hell (1485) inspired by Dante’s Inferno
Hell isn’t just home to myth and monsters, it’s personal. Dante populates it with real people: philosophers like Aristotle, poets like Homer, and even politicians and popes. Pope Boniface VIII, Dante’s enemy, is condemned in a moment of delicious irony. When another pope mistakes Dante for Boniface, it reveals just how damned the real Boniface is expected to be.
Dante’s muse, Beatrice, isn’t in Hell. She’s in Paradise. She’s the one who leads him there, after Virgil, the Roman poet, guides him through Hell and Purgatory. Beatrice wasn’t his wife, but she was the love of his life. They met as children. She died young. And decades later, he immortalized her as the symbol of divine grace.
Dante in Verona by Antonio Cotti (1879) vat the Christie’s Auction House
Despite the religious depth of the poem, it’s not purely Christian. Dante fills Hell with pagan gods and classical references. Charon ferries the damned. Minos judges them. The structure is Christian, but the texture is ancient myth. This blend gave the poem power by rooting divine judgment in the familiar stories of European memory.
Giovanni da Modena’s The Inferno (1410)
Dante didn’t just tell a story; he changed the language. At a time when most serious works were written in Latin, Dante chose to write in Florentine Tuscan. That choice helped establish a literary language for all of Italy. It also inspired later movements like the Reformation, where translating sacred texts became a revolutionary act.
And while the work is deeply theological, containing over 500 biblical references, it’s also strange, psychological, and surprisingly modern. Scholars have pointed out that Dante’s frequent fainting and dreamlike visions could suggest he suffered from narcolepsy. Whether true or not, it’s another layer that makes his journey feel so intimate and real.
Joseph Koch’s Dante and Virgil - fresco detail (1828)
At every turn, Dante embeds the sacred number three. Three canticles. Thirty-three cantos in each. Tercets in a three-line rhyme scheme. Three beasts block his path at the start, and a three-faced Satan waits at the end. This structure isn’t arbitrary; it mirrors the Trinity and gives the poem an architectural elegance.
The Inferno is by far the most iconic part of the poem. Each circle represents a different sin, with its own atmosphere and punishment. What makes it unforgettable isn’t just the horror—it’s the logic. Everything has meaning. Everything is earned. The suffering is grotesque but purposeful.
Yet, in the end, The Divine Comedy is not about despair. That’s why Dante called it a comedy; not because it’s funny, but because it ends in hope. After Hell and Purgatory, he finally glimpses the divine, guided by Beatrice and ultimately St. Bernard. The soul returns to God. That is the “happy ending.”
Rodin’s Gates of Hell Sculpture
The influence of this journey has never stopped. It inspired symphonies, sculpture, comics, and even video games. Rodin’s The Gates of Hell. Dali’s illustrations. Tchaikovsky’s music. The X-Men’s own trip to Inferno. Dante’s world keeps echoing through time, reshaped for each generation.
But maybe the most powerful legacy of The Divine Comedy is this: it dared to map the invisible. It showed that sin has structure, grace has layers, and the soul has a path. For anyone lost in the dark wood of life, Dante’s message is clear—there is a way out. But first, you have to walk through Hell.
“He who sees a need and waits to be asked for help is as unkind as if he had refused it.”
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Art
I funerali di Buondelmonte, by Francesco Saverio Altamura (1860) by the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rome
Cultural Events Calendar
1. Madeira Flower Festival
📍 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal 📅 May 1–25, 2025
A vibrant celebration transforming Madeira into a floral paradise. Highlights include the Flower Parade and intricate flower carpets adorning the streets.
2. Skye Live Festival
📍 Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland 📅 May 8–10, 2025
A three-day music festival set against the stunning backdrop of the Isle of Skye, featuring a mix of traditional and contemporary music.
3. Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words
📍 London, UK 📅 May 14–17, 2025
Celebrating the literary heritage of Fleet Street with over 45 events, including talks by renowned authors and journalists.
4. London Craft Week
📍 London, UK 📅 May 12–18, 2025
Showcasing exceptional craftsmanship through exhibitions, workshops, and demonstrations across the city.
5. Jenny Saville: The Anatomy of Painting
📍 National Portrait Gallery, London, UK 📅 Ongoing
An exploration of the human form through the works of contemporary artist Jenny Saville.
6."Une Passion Chinoise" at the Louvre Museum
📍 Paris, France 📅 May 14 – August 25, 2025
This exhibition showcases over 170 Chinese artworks from the Adolphe Thiers collection, including porcelain, prints, and imperial treasures from the 18th and 19th centuries, highlighting the richness of Chinese art.
7. Music On Festival
📍 Amsterdam, Netherlands 📅 May 10–11, 2025
An electronic music festival featuring top DJs and a vibrant atmosphere.
8. Tartu International Literary Festival Prima Vista
📍 Tartu, Estonia 📅 May 5–10, 2025
A literary festival themed "Book as a Place, Place as a Book," featuring discussions, readings, and cultural events.
9. National Archaeological Museum Exhibitions
📍 Athens, Greece 📅 Ongoing
Explore ancient Greek art and artifacts in one of the world's most significant archaeological museums.
10. TEFAF New York Spring
📍 Park Avenue Armory, New York City, USA 📅 May 8–13, 2025
An international art fair featuring fine art, antiques, and design from leading galleries worldwide.
11."Henri Cartier-Bresson and Italy" at CAMERA
📍 Turin, Italy 📅 February 14 – June 2, 2025
An exhibition showcasing Henri Cartier-Bresson's photographs of Italy, capturing the country's essence through his lens.
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