Codex Filippino of the Divine Comedy
This is one of the oldest surviving specimens of the magnum opus by Dante Alighieri, originating from Naples ca. 1350. It is a richly-illuminated luxury manuscript of the Divine Comedy produced for a wealthy patron by a Florentine artist. 146 mid-sized miniatures help the reader to figuratively interpret events.
Codex Filippino of the Divine Comedy
The most important southern Italian manuscript of the famous Divina Commedia by Dante Alighieri (1265–1321), a giant of both Italian and world literature. Originating in the early Trecento and completed in the year 1321, the Divine Comedy is of exceptional significance for Italian literary history. Together with the Roman poet Virgil (70–29 BC), he traverses Hell, ascends the mountain of Purgatory, and finally enters Paradise. During this excursion, he meets approximately 600 souls from mythology, poetry, and history, who have to endure various punishments in Hell or dwell in Heaven, each in accordance with their own deeds. The tale enjoyed an extensive reception and has influenced men of letters, artists, and other creative types up to today.
A Neapolitan Dante Manuscript
The Codex Filippino is stored under the shelf mark MS. CF 2 16 and is named after its repository, the Biblioteca Oratoriana dei Girolamini of Naples, also known as the “Filippini” after the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory – Filippo Romolo Neri (1515–1595). It originated in Naples ca. 1350, making it one of the oldest Dante manuscripts, and is adorned with 146 mid-sized miniatures by a Florentine artist that help the reader to figuratively interpret events. Thick sets of marginal notes from several hands also append the manuscript. It was originally created as a luxury manuscript, possibly for the Poderco or Polderico family, whose coat-of-arms appears in the lower part of the frieze that frames the first page of the codex.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Göttliche Komödie - Codex Filippino
Dante Girolamini - Size / Format
- 490 pages / 28.0 × 19.5 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 1350
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Illustrations
- 146 miniatures
Codex Filippino of the Divine Comedy
Dante and Virgil Meet Bertran de Born
In Canto XXXVIII of the Inferno, Dante and Virgil meet various Sowers of Discord in the eight circle of Hell, the last of whom is a knight carrying his own severed head by the hair and swings it like a lantern. He is identified as Bertrand de Born (1140–1215), a French baron accused of fomenting rebellion against King Henry II of England, who ruled over large swathes of France, by his son Henry the Young King. For having divided a father from his son, Bertrand has his head severed from his body.

Codex Filippino of the Divine Comedy
Diagram of the Mountain of Purgatory
According to Dante, Purgatory is a mountain that is the only landmass in the Southern Hemisphere and is on the opposite side of the world from Jerusalem. After climbing through a narrow chasm to escape from Hell, the two poets emerge at the base of the Mountain of Purgatory on the morning of Easter Sunday. This red and black pen drawing illustrates the climb they must make.
The bottom two levels below the entrance to Purgatory proper, depicted as a fortified gate, are the Ante-Purgatory, which house the excommunicated and the late-repentant who still cling to earthly life. They are followed by the seven terraces of Purgatory, which are associated with the seven deadly sins (in order): Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Greed , Gluttony, and Lust.

#1 Il Dante svelato dei Girolamini
Language: Italian
#2 Il Codice Filippino della Commedia di Dante Alighieri
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