Double-sided facsimile of the Divine Comedy by Marciana, f. 53r–53v
Dante finds Beatrice and enters Paradise
Some cards tell a story. This one tells of a fulfillment. This double-sided facsimile map is taken from the Divine Comedy by Marciana, f. 53r–53v, a famous illuminated manuscript preserved at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice. The sheet opens Dante's Paradise with the incipit: “The glory of him who moves all things…” On the back, Dante appears next to Beatrice in a starry blue sky: it is the moment in which the poet finds both the canticle of light and his rediscovered beloved. The starry sky of the miniature is not a simple backdrop: it is the threshold of eternity. Dante no longer simply looks upward; he is welcomed into the light. And beside him is Beatrice, the woman who becomes vision, wisdom, and destiny. A card for those who love Dante not only as a poet, but as a man who transformed love into a path to the divine.Want more information about this product? Click here and fill out the form to be contacted by one of our curators.
149,00 €
- Description
Description
Description
This double-sided facsimile card reproduces folio 53r–53v of the Divine Comedy by Marciana, one of the most symbolic pages of Dante’s entire journey: the opening of Paradise.
On f. 53r appears the incipit of the third canticle, “The Glory of Him Who Moves All Things.” It is the point at which Dante leaves Hell and Purgatory behind and enters the dimension of light, harmony, and divine vision.
On f. 53v, the miniature shows Dante and Beatrice in a blue sky dotted with golden stars. This is no ordinary scene: Dante finds Beatrice and, at the same moment, enters Paradise. The beloved of the New Life, lost in earthly life, now reappears transfigured: not only a beloved woman, but a luminous presence, wisdom, guidance, and destiny.
The power of this card lies precisely in this coincidence: Paradiso and Beatrice appear together. For Dante, entering heaven is not merely a theological transition; it is also a love encounter, the return of what has guided all his poetry.
The starry blue background takes on a decisive significance. In Marciana’s Divine Comedy, color is never merely decorative: it helps us understand the roles of the characters, the spiritual quality of the setting, and the passage from an earthly dimension to a higher reality.
This card is ideal for collectors, scholars, Dante enthusiasts, and lovers of illuminated manuscripts. It captures the emotional heart of Paradise in a single sheet: Dante entering the light and finding Beatrice.
Iconographic reading of the front — f. 53r
F. 53r is a transition page.
In the section relating to the conclusion of Purgatory, Dante appears by the waters of Eunoe, the river that completes the purification process. It is the moment when the pilgrim becomes ready for the ascent: no longer just a lost man, but a regenerated soul.
The second important scene on the front depicts Apollo, sitting with his musical instrument under the laurel tree. It is the heart of the poetic invocation of Paradise: Dante asks for the inspiration needed to sing of the “holy kingdom.”
The laurel recalls poetic glory; the music refers to the power of celestial harmony.
The text of Paradiso I opens with the famous incipit:
“The glory of him who moves all things…”
It is the beginning of the canticle of light: no longer the darkness of Hell, no longer the penitential ascent of Purgatory, but the world of vision and enlightened intellect.
Iconographic reading of the back — f. 53v
Folio 53v contains the most intense miniature on the card: Dante and Beatrice in the starry sky.
Beatrice is depicted in a pink dress, with an open gesture, as a welcoming figure who directs us upward. Dante, in a yellow robe and red headdress, stands beside her with an empathetic, almost suspended attitude.
This is not just any narrative scene: it is the moment in which the poet enters the heavenly dimension with his newfound beloved.
The blue background, dotted with golden stars, is not simply a decorative backdrop. In the chromatic logic of St. Mark’s Divine Comedy, blue and gold belong to the language of Paradise: they indicate sacredness, transcendence, light, and the passage to a higher reality.
The beginning of Canto II also appears on the same verso, recognizable by the decorated initial and the apostrophe of the “little boat” to readers. The canto introduces the Moon’s ascent to heaven and shows Dante still guided by Beatrice, who leads him into the first celestial sphere.
Product data sheet
- Reference work: Divine Comedy by Marciana
- Author: Dante Alighieri
- Original manuscript: Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Venice
- Signature: Cod. It. IX, 276 (=6902)
- Reproduced sheet: f. 53r–53v
- Canticle: Paradise
- Contents: Opening of Paradise, Canto I and beginning of Canto II
- Main subject: Dante and Beatrice in the starry sky
- Dating of the original: 14th century
- Area of production: Veneto area, probably Venice, 1375–1400
- Script: Formal Italian Gothic on two columns
- Type: double-sided facsimile paper
- Page dimensions of the main work: 27.5 × 43 cm
- Page size of the complete facsimile: 27.5 × 43 cm
- Edition: 199 copies
- Price: €149.00
- Warranty: 24 months
Why buy it?
This card tells the story of the moment when Dante’s journey changes nature.
After Hell and Purgatory, after fear, pain, purification, and desire, the poet finally enters the light. But Paradise does not open as an abstract space: it opens through Beatrice.
His lost beloved, the woman of memory and poetry, reappears beside him in the starry sky. She is no longer merely the object of earthly love: she is the guide who transforms love into knowledge, beauty into salvation, desire into vision.
A card for those who love Dante not only as an author, but as a man capable of transforming love into a path to eternity.
FAQ – Divine Comedy Marciana F. 53r-53v
Yes. This is a double-sided facsimile card: on the front it reproduces f. 53r, while on the back it reproduces f. 53v of the Divine Comedy by Marciana.
Folio 53r represents the transition from the end of Purgatory to the beginning of Paradise. It features the theme of Dante’s final purification and the invocation to Apollo, linked to the opening of the third canticle.
Folio 53v shows Dante and Beatrice under a starry sky. It is one of the most moving images on the card: Dante enters paradise alongside his newfound beloved.
It is important because it marks the beginning of Paradise in Marciana’s Divine Comedy. On a single sheet, the front and back narrate the passage from purification to light, from waiting to the encounter with Beatrice.
No, Beatrice reappears at the end of Purgatory. However, in this card her presence fully assumes its paradisiacal significance: Beatrice is the rediscovered beloved who guides Dante in the Canticle of Light.
The female figure is Beatrice, the woman loved by Dante and, in the Comedy, the poet’s celestial guide through Paradise.
The starry blue sky indicates the dimension of paradise. In medieval miniatures, and particularly in the Divine Comedy by St. Mark, blue and gold have a strong symbolic value: they refer to transcendence, light, and divine reality.
Apollo is the god of poetry and inspiration. At the beginning of Paradiso, Dante invokes him to enable him to recite the most sublime and difficult poem.
The map is taken from the Divine Comedy of Marciana, an illuminated manuscript preserved at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice, shelf mark Cod. It. IX, 276 (=6902).
No. It is a double-sided facsimile reproduction of a single leaf from the manuscript. It is not the original codex, but a collector’s sheet inspired by f. 53r–53v of the Divine Comedy by Marciana.
