BOTTICELLI, Sandro
(b. 1445, Firenze, d. 1510, Firenze)

Inferno, Canto XVIII

1480s
Coloured drawing on parchment, 320 x 470 mm
Staatliche Museen, Berlin

This almost completely coloured page gives us an impression of the magnificent way in which all the miniatures were to be produced. The main figures, Dante and Virgil, are emphasized by their vibrantly shining robes. While journeying through the ditches of Hell, they first encounter the souls of procurers and seducers being tortured by devils, and then those of sycophants and prostitutes, who are being made to suffer while immersed in ordure.