VI/2 Cerberus, the legendary three-headed dog, is the first of many perversions of the Trinity that mark like signposts the recesses of Dante's vast Theatre of Memory. Here in Canto VI we also have the first of many vilificatory references to Florence (Dante described himself as a Florentine by birth but not in character) and here the Florentine lily, also an image of the Trinity, appears mixed into the figure of Cerberus. This central picture is surrounded by spattered mud to indicate Virgil's parodied feeding of Cerberus with mud-pies (in the Aeneid the beast fares better with honeyed cakes). Dante in his condemnation of Florence is perhaps also involved in mudslinging. In the original version these blobs were made by dropping bombs of cotton wool soaked in sugar water on to a prepared etching plate and printed by the sugarlift process. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.