Included Text
QUI EST PER OMNIA SAECULA BEN BENEDICTUS
QUELLA BEATA BEATRICE CHE MIRA CONTINUALMENTE NELLA
FACIA DI COLUI
L'AMOR CHE MUOVE IL SOLE E L'ALTRE STELLE
Note: The first inscription surrounds the head of Christ; the second
surrounds the head of Beatrice; the third runs along the dividing
diagonal.
Scholarly Commentary
Introduction
This picture is the finished design for the oil painting, but its details are more elaborated.
Production History
This drawing was executed in 1860, probably some time prior to December.
Iconograpic
Love, dressed as a pilgrim, holds a sundial dated 1290, the year of Beatrice's death.
Literary
The three inscriptions are all from Dante: the first two come from the concluding sentence of the Vita Nuova; the third from the last line of the Paradiso.
Bibliography