Double-sided facsimile of the Divine Comedy by Marciana, f. 77r–77v

What are you buying?

By purchasing this card you receive a double-sided facsimile reproduction of folios 77r–77v of the Divine Comedy by Marciana.

The card is printed on both sides:

Front: f. 77r, with the opening of Paradise XXXIII, the prayer “Virgin mother, daughter of your son” and the miniature of the celestial court with the Virgin, Christ or divine figure enthroned, angels and blessed.

Reverse: f. 77v, with the conclusion of Paradiso XXXIII and the miniature of the final vision, in which Dante appears before the divine scene and the celestial court.

This is not the original manuscript, but a single collectible facsimile, ideal for framing, displaying, or preserving as a symbolic fragment of the
Dante tradition.

Along with the card, the customer also receives:

• 24-month Antiquus warranty to protect the purchased product.
• Certificate identifying the reference work, the reproduced sheet and the essential data of the facsimile.
• A 10-point description of the work, designed to understand the historical, literary, and iconographic significance of the map.
• Dedicated social media content, useful for explaining and sharing the cultural value of paper on your own channels.
• Advice for preserving the work

A purchase designed not only for collecting, but also for understanding, narrating, and enhancing the work.

Description

This double-sided facsimile reproduces folio 77r–77v of the Divine Comedy by Marciana, one of the most important and symbolic folios of the entire codex.

The sheet belongs to the final part of Paradiso and contains Canto XXXIII, the last canto of the Divine Comedy. It is the moment in which Dante, now guided by Saint Bernard, turns his gaze to the Virgin Mary and receives the grace necessary to contemplate God.

On f. 77r appears the incipit of the great Marian prayer:

“Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son,
humble and exalted above all other creatures…”

These are words of extraordinary poetic and theological depth. Mary is both mother and daughter, creature and queen, humility and exaltation. In her, Dante concentrates the mystery of the incarnation and salvation: without her mediation, man cannot sustain the ultimate light.

The miniature on f. 77r shows the heavenly court: the Virgin, Christ or the divine figure enthroned, angels, and the blessed. The scene visualizes the moment when Heaven gathers around the final intercession. There is no more journey, no more trial, no more dispute: only the plea remains that Dante may see.

On f. 77v, the miniature leads to the final point of the poem. Dante is depicted in adoration before the celestial vision. The divine figure enthroned, the Virgin, the angels, and the blessed create a scene of solemn revelation.

Here poetry reaches its limit. Dante sees, understands for an instant, but recognizes that memory and words cannot fully contain what he has contemplated. The last canto of the Comedy is not merely a conclusion: it is the moment when the human word bows before the light.

This card holds the pinnacle of the entire work: prayer, grace, vision, and the love that moves the universe.

The point where poetry surrenders to the light

The profound charm of this card lies in its paradox: it is the highest page of the Divine Comedy, but also the one in which Dante confesses the limits of the word.

After passing through Hell, Purgatory, and all the heavens of Paradise, the poet finally arrives before God. Yet, at the very moment of his greatest glory, he understands that no language, no memory, no image can contain what he has seen.

The Comedy doesn’t end with an explanation. It ends with an intuition.

It doesn’t end with a doctrine. It ends with abandonment.

Dante sees the ultimate order of the universe, but he doesn’t possess it. He receives it for an instant, as grace. And in that instant everything falls back into place: desire, knowledge, faith, love, the cosmos.

Hence the final verse:

“the love that moves the sun and the other stars”

It’s not just a poetic conclusion. It’s Dante’s final answer: it’s not force, it’s not power, it’s not reason alone that moves the universe. It’s love.

This card holds that very moment: the point where the journey ends, the word stops and only the light remains.

Iconographic reading of the front — f. 77r

Folio 77r opens Paradiso XXXIII with St. Bernard’s prayer to the Virgin Mary.

The page is dominated by a choral miniature, in which the sky appears as an orderly and luminous court. At the center of the scene are the main sacred figures, surrounded by angels and blessed. The image visually translates the meaning of the hymn: all of heavenly creation seems to gather before the Virgin.

The text begins with:

“Virgin mother, daughter of your son…”

This incipit is one of the most powerful in the Divine Comedy. Dante entrusts Saint Bernard with the decisive prayer, the one that asks Mary to grant the poet the strength to see God.

Mary is not merely a devotional figure here. She is the gateway to vision. She is the one through whom the human creature can approach the divine mystery without being annihilated. In the final hymn, the Virgin becomes the meeting point between the human and the eternal, between the fragility of the creature and absolute light.

The miniature on the front is therefore fundamental: it not only accompanies the text, but also makes its theological heart visible. Dante does not reach the final vision through his own merit. He arrives there by grace, through the intercession of Mary.

Saint Bernard and Mary: the final mediation

At the end of the Divine Comedy, Dante is no longer guided by Virgil, the symbol of reason, nor by Beatrice, the symbol of grace and theological wisdom. His final guide is Saint Bernard, the contemplative mystic who introduces Dante to prayer and vision.

Saint Bernard no longer explains: he prays.

And this is a decisive turning point. Having reached the final threshold, Dante needs not reasoning, but intercession. He must no longer ascend by his own efforts: he must receive the grace to see.

Prayer to Mary is therefore the final bridge between human desire and divine vision. This is why the verse “Virgin Mother, daughter of your Son” is so famous: in a few words, it contains the paradox of the Incarnation, the centrality of Mary, and the mystery of salvation.

This card preserves that very moment: the instant in which Dante stops searching with intelligence alone and entrusts himself to grace.

Iconographic reading of the back — f. 77v

Folio 77v represents the visual and spiritual culmination of the card.

The miniature depicts a scene of adoration and revelation: the divine figure enthroned, the Virgin, angels, and blessed, with Dante depicted in a devout attitude before the vision. The red background and the solemn structure of the scene accentuate the sense of sacredness and fulfillment.

Here we are no longer faced with a simple narrative episode. We are at the end of the entire architecture of the Comedy.

Dante has traversed evil, purification, love, doctrine, the heavens and the hierarchies of Paradise. Now he stands before the supreme mystery: God. But the final vision is not described as a rational possession. Dante sees, understands for an instant, but immediately recognizes the inadequacy of memory and speech.

Poetry reaches its highest point precisely when it admits its own limits.

The back of the card is therefore the place of fulfillment: no longer a journey, but a vision; no longer a question, but an intuition; no longer human movement, but final harmony.

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. 77r–77v
• Canticle: Paradise
• Canto represented: Paradiso XXXIII
• Main theme: St. Bernard’s prayer to the Virgin Mary and the final vision of God
• Famous incipit: “Virgin mother, daughter of your son”
• Concluding verse connected to the song: “the love that moves the sun and the other stars”
• Main characters: Dante, Saint Bernard, Virgin Mary, Christ or divine figure on the throne, angels and blessed
• 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 size of the complete facsimile: 27.5 × 43 cm
• Price: €149.00
• Warranty: 24 months

Why is Adam in Dante’s Paradise?

The presence of Adam is one of the most profound elements of this card.

Adam is the first man, linked to creation, the fall, and original sin. He might seem like a figure of loss. Yet Dante places him in Paradise, among the great blessed presences of the heaven of the Fixed Stars.

This choice has a very powerful meaning.

For Dante, Adam is not only the man of sin: he is also the man of redemption. Human history is not limited to the Fall. After Christ, even the righteous of ancient times are reached by salvation. Adam thus becomes the sign that redemption concerns not only the present or the future, but permeates all of human history from its very origin.

In Paradiso XXVI, Dante questions Adam on lofty themes: the original language, the name of God, the length of his life, and the time elapsed before liberation. Adam represents the beginning of man, but now seen from the light of fulfillment.

This is why his presence alongside the three apostles is so strong: in the same scene, the origin of humanity and the virtues that lead to God meet.

Adam is the memory of the fall.
The apostles are the path of faith.
Paradise is the sign that history can be saved.
Saint Peter: when light becomes judgment
The moral heart of the sheet is Saint Peter.

In the miniature, he is recognizable by the keys, but in the text, he becomes something even more powerful: a prophetic voice. After the chant to the Trinity, Saint Peter blazes with indignation against the corruption of the earthly Church.

This passage is one of the most powerful in the Divine Comedy. Dante places his denunciation of ecclesiastical corruption not among the damned, but in Paradise, before the light of the blessed. It’s a powerful choice: the harshest truth is spoken in the place of greatest purity.

Paradise, here, is not escape.
It’s responsibility.
It’s judgment.
It is a light that unmasks what has become corrupt on earth.

This card is therefore particularly intense because it shows Paradise not only as bliss, but as a place where human history is measured against the eternal.

Why is this card great?

This card is special because it contains the last canto of the Divine Comedy.

Folios 77r–77v are not just any pages from Paradise: they are the page of fulfillment. The entire work tends toward this moment. Every descent, every ascent, every encounter, every question finds its destination here.

On the front, Saint Bernard prays to the Virgin Mary with one of the most famous incipits in Italian literature:

“Virgin mother, daughter of your son…”

On the reverse, Dante arrives at the threshold of the final vision of God, where poetry becomes almost silence and human desire is absorbed into the order of divine love.

This card contains three major themes:

• prayer, with Saint Bernard addressing Mary;
• grace, with the Virgin as mediator of the vision;
• the fulfillment, with Dante before the ultimate mystery of God.

It is an ideal card for those seeking a Dante page of absolute symbolic value: not just a miniature of Paradise, but the sheet of the last canto, the final threshold of the Comedy.

Why buy it?

This card tells the moment when Dante reaches the end of everything.

After traversing Hell, purifying himself in Purgatory, finding Beatrice and ascending the heavens of Paradise, the poet reaches the threshold of the unspeakable. Here there is no longer a place to traverse. There is no longer a question to ask. There is only the vision.

But before the vision there is a prayer.

“Virgin mother, daughter of your son…”

Saint Bernard turns to Mary so that Dante may receive what no man can attain alone: ​​the grace to contemplate God. It is a moment of immense intensity, for it demonstrates the poet’s final humility. After writing the greatest journey in medieval literature, Dante recognizes that the final light is not grasped: it is received.

This card is the symbol of fulfillment.

• The completion of the journey.
• The fulfillment of love.
• The fulfillment of poetry.

Purchasing this card means bringing into your collection not just an illuminated page, but the symbol of the entire Comedy: man who journeys through evil, purification, and knowledge to finally arrive at the love that moves all things.

It is a card for those who love Dante not only as an author, but as a man who brought the word to the point where the word must bow before the light.

FAQ – Divine Comedy Marciana F. 77r-77v

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