DANTE’S DIVINE COMEDY

WELCOME

This site is a work of love! In celebration of the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death in September of 2021, I created a new narrative version of Dante’s great poem accompanied by generous reader-friendly notes, commentary, and art designed to provide a rich and accessible experience of the poem particularly for students and the general reader. The numerous artworks for each Canto of the poem are another way of celebrating Dante’s still-living genius and at the same time paying homage to centuries of artists who have added their vision to his so that the reader here can participate in the poet’s original vision and see how that vision inspired other artists during the last 700 years. Welcome!

Michael F. Meister, FSC, PhD

Saint Mary’s College of California


Progress Report…

The texts of the Inferno, the Purgatorio, and the Paradiso here are complete as of September 2022. The Inferno text also includes notes and commentary, and there is a link for images that correspond to each Canto.

The Purgatorio text includes the following:

Notes and commentary for Cantos 1-18 added on August 15, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Cantos 19 and 20 added on September 2, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Cantos 21 and 22 added on September 22, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Canto 23 added on October 12, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Canto 24 added on November 3, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Canto 25 added on November 13, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Canto 26 added on November 19, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Canto 27 added on November 27, 2023.

Notes and commentary for Canto 28 added on November 29, 2023.

(Artwork and the Introduction to the Purgatorio are still coming.)

(Notes, artwork, and the Introduction for the Paradiso are still coming.)