Culture | A way through the wood

The “Divine Comedy” is a salutary guide to hope amid adversity

Seven hundred years after Dante’s death, his masterpiece still resonates

|FLORENCE

OFF A BUSY street in Florence stands the church of San Remigio. The chapel nearest the left of the altar was patronised by the Gaddi family, one of whose most illustrious sons, Niccolò Gaddi, commissioned its 16th-century altarpiece. In his will, he specified that it should depict a scene from Dante Alighieri’s “Paradiso”, the final part of his monumental poem, known in English as the “Divine Comedy”.

This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “The way through the wood”

Biden’s debacle: What it means for Afghanistan and America

From the August 21st 2021 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

Explore the edition

More from Culture

Selena Gomez in "Emilia Perez"

Why “Emilia Pérez” is loved by Hollywood and hated by everyone else

And the Oscar for Worst Picture goes to…

Packages of tofu move along conveyors on the production line

Tofu: never judge a food by its political reputation

Think outside the white plastic box. Here is a carnivore’s guide to tofu


An illustration of two hands holding pencils and writing on each other's sleeves, which resemble books.

Sex, drugs or chastity?

Pope Francis has written the first memoir by a sitting pope. God help us


Backpacks are, surprisingly, in vogue

They are following in sneakers’ path and becoming more fashionable

Spotify’s playlists have altered the music industry in unexpected ways

A critical assessment of the Swedish streaming giant’s musical legacy

Henri Bergson was once the world’s most famous philosopher

He sought to reconcile science and metaphysics