Dante and Virgil, Rafaël
On a surface of pronounced reddish shades, the figures of Dante and Virgil can be distinguished. In the upper part of the painting, Virgil, dressed with an old-styled white tunic and crowned with bay leaves, is sitting over a couple of rocks and, with a peaceful expression, raises his right hand as a sign of speaking. Underneath him, Dante, dressed in red as in a medieval custom and crowned with bay leaves, lays his torso in order to put his hands on the rocks in which he relays. He observes with a gesture of horror the scene that is developing in the background: in a cavity that occupies the lower left part of the painting, intense flames burn, among them some characters can be appreciated. The reddish color of the flames that come out of the inferno invade the canvas in this tonality.
Raphael was an Italian artist from the High Renaissance.
Raphael is the name by which he is now known worldwide. His real name was Raffaello Sanzio. He is also known under names like Raffaello Santi and Raffaello da Urbino. As with many artists from the Italian Renaissance, his life is described in the famous book Le Vite by the 16th century painter and writer Giorgio Vasari.
