I'm feeling lazy to wiki, and besides, would prefer some colourful commentary to dry prose.
Remind me; the name's familiar but I'm blanking on the context.
Farinata degli Uberti (real name
Manente degli Uberti - born in
Empoli,
1212 died in
Firenze November 11,
1264) was an
Italian aristocrat and military leader, considered by some to be a
heretic, who appears in
Dante's
Inferno and is mentioned in
C.S. Lewis's short "sequel" to
The Screwtape Letters, Screwtape Proposes a Toast.
Source:
Wikipedia
In the
Inferno, Dante and Virgil encounter Farinata in the sixth circle of Hell, reserved for heresiarchs. "Within this region," Virgil says, "is the cemetery of Epicurus and his followers, all those who say the soul dies with the body."
In keeping with the poem's theme of letting the punishment fit the crime, Epicurus and his followers are confined forever in burning sepulchers. Having denied the reality of life beyond the grave, they are condemned to remain in their graves, and suffer, for eternity.
In Canto X, as Dante and Virgil pass through the cemetery, Farinata, hearing someone speaking his native Tuscan, rises from his tomb, and questions Dante about events in their native Florence since his death.
Dore's illustration of this incident has been a favourite of mine for a long time--partly because of the strong, film-noiresque contrast of light and shadow, and partly because various online surveys have assured me that my soul is bound for this very circle of Dante's Hell, after death.
But mostly because it was used as the cover for a single--a song that has been another favourite of mine for about twenty years now:
"Dig It" by Canadian industrial-music group, Skinny Puppy.
The DJ booth in one of the gothic-industrial nightclubs I patronized back home had a poster of this on its wall. I've been looking a print of this picture for years, and was quite excited when I found that ARC was offering poster-sized reproductions.
(Don't misunderstand me. I love both of them, especially Dolly.)
