Could the great Botticelli of his greatest contemporary, the great poet, the creator of the Italian literary language and the author of the “Divine Comedy” Dante Alighieri, have been able to ignore the attention?
However, despite the fact that the belonging of this portrait of the great master’s brush is questioned, suppose that after a number of illustrations to “Paradise” and “Hell” of the poem mentioned, the artist himself, or with the help of his disciples, created the image of the author of the immortal work.
Obviously, Botticelli shared the radical political views of the poet, who was an active supporter of the independence of Florence. The poet spent many long years in exile because of internecine strife that plagued his native city in the late thirteenth century.
The face of the portrait depicted radiates calmness, strong will and self-confidence. Before us is an extraordinary, independent person. Bright red, but modest clothes, reminiscent of the priest’s attire, speaks of spiritual aspiration, laurel wreath – about literary victories, a turn in profile makes a portrait similar to the image on the order or coin.
Only the edge of a dazzling white cap with unbroken ribbons protruding from under the red cap on Dante’s head allegorically speaks of the purity and sincerity of the thoughts of the self-irony depicted and characteristic of it.
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