Dantesque window

Made for the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, this window was again shown in London to celebrate the sixth centenary of the birth of Dante in 1865. It was purchased for the Ambrosiana by public subscription in 1867. The poet is seated on a Gothic throne, flanked by the enigmatic Matilda and by Beatrice. In the middle register we see episodes from Canto I and Canto III of the Inferno (Dante in the Dark Forest and the Demon Charon). Saint Dominic and Saint Francis, the founders of the mendicant orders, act almost as intermediaries with the upper register, where we see the Virgin Enthroned, dressed in white and worshipped by angels. The artist, Giuseppe Bertini, also created numerous stained glass windows for the Duomo in Milan.