[Illustration: GHIBERTI'S BRONZE DOORS AT FLORENCE The second or northern pair of bronze doors of the baptistery at Florence. Completed by Lorenzo Ghiberti in 1452 A.D. after twenty seven years of labor The ten panels represent scenes from Old Testament history. Michelangelo pronounced these magnificent creations worthy to be the gates of paradise.]
[Illustration: ST. PETER'S, ROME St Peter's, begun in 1506 A.D., was completed in 1667, according to the designs of Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo, and other celebrated architects. It is the largest church in the world. The central aisle, nave, and choir measure about 600 feet in length, the great dome, 140 feet in diameter, rises to a height of more than 400 feet. A double colonnade encircles the piazza in front of the church. The Vatican is seen to the right of St Peter's.]
210. REVIVAL OF LEARNING IN ITALY
THE CLASSICS IN THE MIDDLE AGES
The literature of Greece and Rome did not entirely disappear in western Europe after the Germanic invasions. The monastery and cathedral schools of the Middle Ages had nourished devoted students of ancient books. The Benedictine monks labored zealously in copying the works of pagan as well as Christian authors. The rise of universities made it possible for the student to pursue a fairly extended course in Latin literature at more than one institution of learning. Greek literature, however, was little known in the West. The poems of Homer were read only in a brief Latin summary, and even Aristotle's writings were studied in Latin translations.
DANTE ALIGHIERI 1265-1321 A.D.
Reverence for the classics finds constant expression in the writings of the Italian poet Dante. He was a native of Florence, but passed much of his life in exile. Dante's most famous work, the Divine Comedy, describes an imaginary visit to the other world. Vergil guides him through the realms of Hell and Purgatory until he meets his lady Beatrice, the personification of love and purity, who conducts him through Paradise. The Divine Comedy gives in artistic verse an epitome of all that medieval men knew and hoped and felt: it is a mirror of the Middle Ages. At the same time it drew much of its inspiration from Graeco-Roman sources. Athens, for Dante, is the "hearth from which all knowledge glows"; Homer is the "loftiest of poets", and Aristotle is the "master of those who know." This feeling for classical antiquity entitles Dante to rank as a prophet of the Renaissance.
[Illustration: DANTE ALIGHIERI
From a fresco, somewhat restored, ascribed to the contemporary artist,
Giotto. In the National Museum, Florence.]
DANTE AND THE ITALIAN LEAGUE
Dante exerted a noteworthy influence on the Italian language. He wrote the Divine Comedy, not in Latin, but in the vernacular Italian as spoken in Florence. The popularity of this work helped to give currency to the Florentine dialect, and in time it became the literary language of Italy. Italian was the first of the Romance tongues to assume a national character.