John Flaxman's drawing depicts the procession that Dante describes
in Canto 29. In the drawing, a number of
men with long beards follow the “torch bearers” in front. The verses that describe this scene are found
in lines 49-87. The lines especially relevant
to Flaxman’s drawing are ll. 82-87:
“Under
the beautiful sky that I describe,
twenty- four elders, two by two, were
coming,
crowned with lilies.
All
were singing: “Benedicta are you
among
The daughters of Adam, and blessed in
eternity
Be your beauties!”
The men in Flaxman’s painting are holding what seem to be
scrolls. It is not clear at first glance
whether they are singing. Some seem to
be studying the scrolls, others looking up at the light – it is a very solemn picture,
whereas Dante’s description, especially in the surrounding verses, is much more
jubilant and celebratory.
The “torches” that lead the way are described in the text as candelabra,
which recalls the Catholic church service where candle bearers lead a
procession down the aisle during mass. Flaxman
depicts the streams of light that trail behind them in the air as Dante
describes in lines 73-81 –
“I
saw the flames move on, leaving the air
Behind them painted, and they seemed like
brushes drawn along,
So that the air overhead was marked with
Seven stripes, all in those colors with
which the
Sun makes his bow and Delia her belt.” [in
other
words,
the stripes were in the colors of the rainbow].
These banners extended backward further
Than my sight; and, in my estimate, the
outer
Ones were ten paces apart.”
Flaxman interprets the “stripes” as (what look like) beams of
light that shine backwards. Dante
describes them as banners, so I imagined them as wavy and spreading laterally
rather than vertically. Nonetheless,
Flaxman’s drawing captures the regal nature of the whole procession, which – in
my opinion – is the climax of Purgatorio.
John Flaxman, Procession, Rainbow Streamers
http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/purgatory/gallery/1003procession.jpg
No comments:
Post a Comment