XVI/2 This bloated distortion of the Florentine lily with newly distended shapes and brashness of colour corresponds to Dante's vilification of his city as a place now swollen with excess. The original Golden Section version of the emblem (cf. Canto 11/2) was used to generate progressively more grotesque variants of the shape on the graphics computer of Leicester Polytechnic under the direction of Stroud Cornock. These parallel Dante's changing vision of his city, its nature, fate and history. The slightly obscured interior text reads 'fine florentine airs glowing with gaudy brilliance'. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.