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Anonymous Not Available Allegorical Portrait of Dante late 16th century. Florentine. Oil on panel. 127 x 120 cm. Courtesy of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (http://www.nga.gov); Samuel H. Kress Collection.

Guesses have been made, speculations entertained, possibilities examined and dismissed, and still no one has identified the author of the remarkable painting known as Allegorical Portrait of Dante (cover). The identification of the subject, on the other hand, leaves little room for doubt. The singular profile, the crown of laurel leaves, the open book on whose facing pages may be read—in Italian—the first 48 lines of Canto XXV of Paradiso, the Stygian river, Mount Purgatory, the golden light of heaven, all identify the author of The Divine Comedy. If additional confirmation were needed, one might look to the lower left corner, where the poet extends his hand over the unique domes and towers . . . [Full Text of this Article]