Canto II/1 This companion-piece to Dante in his Study shows Virgil in a similar room. The positions of the figure and the book derive also from Signorelli, but more remotely. Since no authoritative image of Virgil exists he is pictured without features. As with Dante the hands are my own and drawn from life. He is poised over the book of his Works. It is open at the Sixth Book of the Aeneid, the principal source for the Inferno. A bookmark indicates the Fourth Eclogue in which Virgil (as it seemed to the mediaeval world) prophesied the Coming of Christ. The Eagle of the Empire signifies Virgil's allegiance to the other Rome (a separation much to Dante's political tastes). In the left hand corner a distorted star with seven points and inscribed with alchemical devices is falling from the framework of the picture. This refers to Virgil's role in the mediaeval thought as a Magus (his book was used as a work of divination in the manner of the I Ching), a reputation Dante is eager to dispel. Through a partitioned gap can be seen the seven walls of the Castle of Fame, Virgil's benign prison in Limbo (cf. Canto IV/1). From the sky descends a light as inspiration for his part in the Comedy to come. The implied eight-sided figure, cut to nine by the window-frame, represents Beatrice who bears the blessing of the Three Ladies in Heaven (indicated by the three rays) who, through her, tell the poet of his mission. Only half the sun is shown since the pagan, however virtuous, can be only half-illuminated for he must lack perforce the light of Christian revelation. On the wall behind the figure hang two swords which not only hint at the Veltro prophecy but symbolise epic endeavour in verse. The first belongs to Homer who appears in Canto IV with a sword; the second is that of Virgil himself: the implied space for a third is reserved for that of Dante. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.