artStudio | Dante lives again in Umbria

Dante lives again in Umbria Tremendous Minos

Così discesi del cerchio primaio / giù nel secondo, che men luogo cinghia, / e tanto più dolor, che punge a guaio. / Stavvi Minòs orribilmente, e ringhia: / essamina le colpe nell'entrata; / giudica e manda secondo ch'avvinghia. (Inf., V 1-6)
Dante had already transformed Minos, the mythical king of Crete and the son of Jove and Europe, into a gruesome, diabolical monster with an extremely powerful tail. Here Gillessen continues in his use of the same re-elaborating poetics already applied to Caronte. The enormous size of Minos is in proportion to his function as undisputed judge who peremptorily pontificates in the infernal tribunal. The pontifical tiara is a parody of what transpires in the Holy See while the disgusting mass of his body may very well allude to the idle wealth of the papacy.
Tremendous Minos

Introduction
Dante lost in the dark wood (Inferno, I)
Dante - follower of Christ made flesh (Inferno, I)
The arrival of Caronte (Inferno, III)
The Noble Castle of Limbo (Inferno, IV)
Tremendous Minos (Inferno, V)
The lustful Guido Guinizelli and Arnaut Daniel (Purgatorio, XXVI)
Souls in the circle of the envious (Purgatorio, XIII)
The sky of Mercury - the active spirits (Paradiso, V-VI)
Invective of St. Benedict (Paradiso, XXII)
index


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