Dante's Artistry in Purgatorio Christopher Kleinhenz (bio) In his insightful and influential scholarly writing, Pier Massimo Forni has been particularly attentive to the language of the text, to questions of how rhetorical structures, discursive strategies, word choice and semantics combine to produce an exceptionally rich and variegated literary tapestry,1 as he does, for example, in Adventures in Speech, where he elucidates Boccaccio's finely honed prose in the Decameron. Just as Boccaccio paid homage to Dante, recognizing his mentor's pre-eminence in all matters literary (with the possible exception of prose fiction), I wish to express here my own debt of gratitude to Pier Massimo for his friendship and my appreciation, more generally, for his vital presence in and enduring contributions to our common academic enterprise. Indeed, he is the consummate example of the sensitive reader and keen interpreter of texts, the versatile teacher-scholar, and the esteemed mentor. Over the years Pier Massimo has taught us many ways of reading and experiencing literary works, allowing the texts to speak in their own voice and disclose their manifold meanings to us through their finely woven web of words and images. For these valuable lessons we are all in his debt. In questions of literary indebtedness, Dante has given us multiple examples of the ways in which he acknowledges his forebears—literary, philosophical, theological and artistic—while sometimes evincing his disagreement with or his desire to surpass them. We need only think of his use of the "out-doing topos" in Inferno 25 (95, 97, "Taccia [End Page S-40] Lucano … / … / taccia … Ovidio,"2 and of his liberal borrowing from Virgil's poetry and the Bible, as well as his sometimes unconventional statements regarding certain matters. Dante also employs artistic imagery to stunning effect in the three canticles. Indeed, his specific references to the artistic process and to artists and their works are readily apparent to most readers of the Commedia.3 On some occasions, however, the Florentine poet refrains from announcing his designs so openly and boldly, choosing instead to place those artistic and iconographic elements within his poetic canvas or at times to conceal them partially within the folds of his verbal tapestry. In such cases the slightest suggestion of perspective, color, line, or chiaroscuro would be sufficient to open the poem to other possibilities, to heighten its dramatic effect, and to enhance its graphic power, thus allowing the reader to perceive a multi-dimensional world infused with a vitality rarely achieved within the usual narrative limitations. These artistic accoutrements enliven the scene and contribute to our greater understanding and appreciation of his poem. In this essay I will explore the subtle ways in which Dante employs the dynamic relationship of text and image to enhance our reading and understanding of a particular episode in the poem, the Valley of the Rulers.4 Through emphasis on gestures, spatial positioning, synaesthesia, and structural details, Dante leads us to a profitable interdisciplinary reading of Cantos 6–8 of Purgatorio, thus preparing the way—setting the stage, as it were—for the lessons in humility and pride which the Pilgrim will learn on the first terrace of the Mountain of Purgatory, lessons imparted and enhanced through the combination of poetry and art, text and image. On this terrace, the Pilgrim beholds God's visibile parlare (Purg. 10.95) in the relief sculptures that, by presenting examples of virtue and vice, provide proper instruction and lead to the eventual purification of the penitent souls. However, these exempla do not appeal only to the sense of sight; rather, their effect is [End Page S-41] synaesthetic. Dante the Pilgrim "sees" the reliefs of the Annunciation and of Trajan's encounter with the widow; he "hears" their spoken words. In his observation of the relief of David dancing before the Ark, the tactile images carved in stone appeal to no fewer than three of his senses—sight, hearing, and smell:5 Era intagliato lì nel marmo stessolo carro e ' buoi, traendo l'arca santa,per che si teme officio non commesso. Dinanzi parea gente; e tutta quanta,partita in sette cori, a' due mie' sensifaceva dir l'un "No," l...