Map of the Inferno
Title
Map of the Inferno
Description
Included in the Codex Altonensis, this diagram functions as a map of Dante’s passage through hell. Flanked by images of Dante and Virgil entering and subsequently exiting hell, the main body of the map consists of a descending spiral of text describing the steps of Dante’s journey. At the center, the map transitions to visual representation, depicting a three-faced Satan devouring Cassius, Brutus, and Judas at the center of Hell. The concentric rings and circular format of the map ressemble a cosmographical map, closely linking the manuscript to a contemporaneously recognizable scientific discourse.
Dante’s Divinia Commedia, though a literary work, depended heavily on the realistic conceptualization of space, especially in the Inferno section. This primed the work for illustrative mapping, which was a common practice when crafting manuscripts of the text in the 14th century. (Patrick Wigent '19)
Dante’s Divinia Commedia, though a literary work, depended heavily on the realistic conceptualization of space, especially in the Inferno section. This primed the work for illustrative mapping, which was a common practice when crafting manuscripts of the text in the 14th century. (Patrick Wigent '19)
Creator
Unknown
Source
Hamburg, Bibliothek des Gymnasiums Christianeum, [Pal. 313, f. 7r ] [Sign. R 7/2, f. 5r]
Format
Map in a book
Publisher
Dante Alighieri. Divina Commedia: Codex Altonensis. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1965.
Date
1350x1410
Medium
manuscript
Contributor
Special Collections, Carleton College, Northfield, MN
wigentp
Relation
https://histgymbib.hypotheses.org/2350
Language
Italian
Type
Regional map
Spatial Coverage
Hell
References
Cachery Jr., Theodore J. “Maps and Literature in Renaissance Italy.” In The History of Cartography, vol. 3, part 1 Cartography in the European Renaissance, ed. David Woodward, 450–460. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
Rights
Rights for maps held by individual publishers and institutions. Thumbnails displayed constitute fair use.
Citation
Unknown, “Map of the Inferno,” Mapping the World, accessed August 7, 2026, https://hist231.hist.sites.carleton.edu/items/show/20.