Paradiso Canto XXXIII

It was to celebrate the 6th anniversary of Dante's death that in 1920 the project for a monumental edition of Dante's work came to life, financed by the lawyer Rino Valdamieri, together with other private investors. Amos Nattini executed the edition: he worked on the illustrations, the typographic aspects, the creation of the characters and the technical aspects. He therefore made 100 watercolors, one for each canticle, which were subsequently lithographed. 1000 copies were printed in hand-made rag paper 140x100 cm with leather cover of white calf. It took 20 years and 7 months to complete the artwork. Nattini also wanted a lectern to contain the three volumes weighing about 27 kg each: it was made by the cabinetmaker Eugenio Quarti, based on a drawing by architects Giò Ponti and Tommaso Buzzi.

Paradiso, Canto XXXIII. We see Dante in the Empireo while the Virgin intercedes for him. Nattini illustrates the moment in which Saint Bernard intercedes with the Virgin, so that Dante can enjoy God's light of mind. The artist uses a symmetrical composition, in which two overlapping circles of clouds act as a container for the major divine figures, leaving the remaining souls on the margins crowd the Empireo. Reading the composition vertically, in the lower part Nattini places Dante and San Bernardo da Chiaravalle, doctor of the Church for his theological reflections on the cult of the Virgin. He wears the Cistercian habit and tonsure. Above them, the first circle of clouds open and Nattini places Maria. The apex of the composition is reserved for the Trinity, to emphasize the rise and vertical movement that always recalls Dante's journey.