Dante's Divine Comedy

Purgatory

Now Virgil guides Dante to the outskirts of Purgatory and arrives at St. Peters Gate, which is represented in the center of the mural design illuminated in golden light symbolic of the celestial Air. On the right side of the design Dante enters Purgatory where an angel strikes him 3 times on the chest and paints 7 Pšs on his forehead entering the element of Fire. After completing a terrace on Mt. Purgatory an angel will remove a P from his forehead and he becomes lighter and lighter.

The base of Mount Purgatory is surrounded by Water. At these shores Dante and Virgil are attracted by a musical performance, which is symbolized by the sound and speech glyphs that surround Virgil on the left of the design. Virgil guides Dante through the seven terraces of Purgatory. It is a bright mountainside on the outskirts of heaven where they see people recovering and improving their lives.

The First Terrace shows the Proud who have to carry heavy weights on their backs. They cannot stand up straight and have to keep their eyes on the carved stories in the pavement below. The Second Terrace of the Envious is faces of souls with their eyes sewn shut. The Third Terrace is the Wrathful who are walking around in acrid smoke shows how their judgment has blinded their vision. The Fourth Terrace of the Slothful is continually running a marathon to be forgiven. The Fifth Terrace of the Avaricious are found lying face down on the ground unable to move learning to turn away from material things. The Sixth Terrace of Gluttons who cannot have any food or drink to master their desire to eat. The Seventh Terrace is the Lustful burning in an immense wall of flames where they are purified.

The journey up Mt. Purgatory ends at the top where the Garden of Eden stands before Dante. A large procession of souls circle around the garden. This is where Virgilšs guidance ends and Dante meets his new guide Beatrice. The river Lethe and the river Eunoe are in the background behind Dante and Beatrice under the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life. They look toward the stars and anticipate the ascension to heaven.

Inferno
Paradise