Eschatology and Representations of the Underworld in pre-Dante Vernacular Literature Hell according to Giacomino da Verona and Bonvesin de la Riva

Abstract

This paper enumerates the northern Italian descriptions of hell that preceded Dante’s Comedy, with the aim, on the one hand, to designate their place within the tradition of visionary literature, outlining the path of migratory motifs here and there; and on the other hand, to confront them with Dante’s solutions, showing some parallels not previously mentioned in scholarly literature. The paper is examining the pairs of sins and punishments of Bonvesin de la Riva in detail, most of which are related to the law of contrapasso, more consistently than in the earlier tradition of visionary literature, in anticipation of Dante’s system. I will also elaborate on the elements of counter-punishments that had already been present in the most important vernacular forerunners to Dante.