{"id":77,"date":"2018-06-19T13:09:32","date_gmt":"2018-06-19T17:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/?page_id=77"},"modified":"2025-07-17T12:07:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T16:07:53","slug":"mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/","title":{"rendered":"Mapping Hell: Cartography and the <em>Comedy<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"<nav style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\" class=\"is-responsive wp-block-navigation is-layout-flex wp-container-core-navigation-is-layout-234c2e5e wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"sections\" \n\t\t data-wp-interactive=\"core\/navigation\" data-wp-context='{\"overlayOpenedBy\":{\"click\":false,\"hover\":false,\"focus\":false},\"type\":\"overlay\",\"roleAttribute\":\"\",\"ariaLabel\":\"Menu\"}'><button aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-label=\"Open menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-open\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.openMenuOnClick\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleMenuKeydown\"\n\t\t\t><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M4 7.5h16v1.5H4z\"><\/path><path d=\"M4 15h16v1.5H4z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container\"  id=\"modal-1\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--has-modal-open=\"state.isMenuOpen\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--is-menu-open=\"state.isMenuOpen\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-watch=\"callbacks.initMenu\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleMenuKeydown\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--focusout=\"actions.handleMenuFocusout\"\n\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"-1\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-close\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-dialog\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-modal=\"state.ariaModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-label=\"state.ariaLabel\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--role=\"state.roleAttribute\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Close menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-close\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.closeMenuOnClick\"\n\t\t\t><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"m13.06 12 6.47-6.47-1.06-1.06L12 10.94 5.53 4.47 4.47 5.53 10.94 12l-6.47 6.47 1.06 1.06L12 13.06l6.47 6.47 1.06-1.06L13.06 12Z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-content\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-watch=\"callbacks.focusFirstElement\"\n\t\t\t id=\"modal-1-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:600\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__container is-responsive wp-block-navigation\"><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/crafting-a-cosmos\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Crafting a Cosmos<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Mapping Hell<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/dante-and-the-new-world\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Dante &amp; the New World<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/infernal-geometry\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Infernal Geometry<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/stars-and-moonspots-dantes-astronomy\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Stars &amp; Moonspots<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/envisioning-the-heavens-purgatory-and-paradise\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Envisioning the Heavens<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/archeology-and-mathematics-dante-in-the-19th-century\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Archeology &amp; Mathematics<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/hells-beasts-and-bodies-the-anatomy-of-hell\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Hell\u2019s Beasts &amp; Bodies<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\"  href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/women-authors-of-science-and-the-comedy\/\" title=\"\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">Women Authors of Science &amp; the Comedy<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/nav>\n\n\n<div style=\"height:46px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:12px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">How do maps allow us to access, interpret and understand Hell? Or, as one sixteenth-century author put it, to \u201csee Hell before our eyes?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-background is-layout-grid wp-container-core-group-is-layout-987cefe3 wp-block-group-is-layout-grid\" style=\"background-color:#faf3e6\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/d15_aeon900m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-184\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1629\" height=\"2500\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/D15_AEON900m.jpg\" alt=\"Dialogo di Antonio Manetti, cittadino fiorentino, circa al sito, forma &amp; misure dello Inferno di Dante Alighieri poeta excellentissimo [Dialogue of Antonio Manetti, Florentine Citizen, Concerning the Site, Form and Measurements of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri, Most Excellent Poet]\" class=\"wp-image-184\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>1. <em>Dialogo di Antonio Manetti, cittadino fiorentino, circa al sito, forma &amp; misure dello Inferno di Dante Alighieri poeta excellentissimo<\/em> [Dialogue of Antonio Manetti, Florentine Citizen, Concerning the Site, Form and Measurements of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri, Most Excellent Poet]<\/strong><br>Girolamo Benivieni (1453\u20131542)<br>Florence, Italy: Filippo Giunti, c. 1510<br>Brown University Library, Chambers Dante Collection<br>First published in 1506<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/yc-m31md\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-126\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"939\" height=\"1438\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/YC-M31md.jpg\" alt=\"Dialogo di Antonio Manetti, cittadino fiorentino, circa al sito, forma &amp; misure dello Inferno di Dante Alighieri poeta excellentissimo [Dialogue of Antonio Manetti, Florentine Citizen, Concerning the Site, Form and Measurements of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri, Most Excellent Poet]\" class=\"wp-image-126\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>2. <em>Dialogo di Antonio Manetti, cittadino fiorentino, circa al sito, forma &amp; misure dello Inferno di Dante Alighieri poeta excellentissimo<\/em> [Dialogue of Antonio Manetti, Florentine Citizen, Concerning the Site, Form and Measurements of the Inferno of Dante Alighieri, Most Excellent Poet]<\/strong><br>Girolamo Benivieni (1453\u20131542)<br>Florence, Italy: Filippo Giunti, c. 1510<br>Brown University Library, Chambers Dante Collection<br>First published in 1506<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/olio002115\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-120\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1082\" height=\"1708\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/olio002115.jpg\" alt=\"Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri Poeta Fiorentino [Commentary by Florentine Cristophoro Landino on the Comedy of Dante Alighieri Florentine Poet]\" class=\"wp-image-120\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>3. <em>Comento di Christophoro Landino Fiorentino sopra la Comedia di Danthe Alighieri Poeta Fiorentino<\/em> [Commentary by Florentine Cristophoro Landino on the Comedy of Dante Alighieri Florentine Poet]<\/strong><br>Dante Alighieri (1265\u20131321)<br>Florence, Italy: Nicolo di Lorenzo della Magna, 1481<br>Brown University Library, Annmary Brown Memorial Collection<br>Engravings by Baccio Baldini after Sandro Botticelli; marginal annotations throughout with at least one early hand<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/d13_aeon899m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-122\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1220\" height=\"1076\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/D13_AEON899m.jpg\" alt=\"Dante col sito, et forma dell'inferno tratta dalla istessa descrittione del poeta [Dante with the Site, and Form of the Inferno Based on the Description of the Poet]\" class=\"wp-image-122\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>4. <em>Dante col sito, et forma dell&#8217;inferno tratta dalla istessa descrittione del poeta<\/em> [Dante with the Site, and Form of the Inferno Based on the Description of the Poet]<\/strong><br>Dante Alighieri (1265\u20131321)<br>Venice, Italy: Aldo Manuzio and Andrea di Asola, 1515<br>Brown University Library, Chambers Dante Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/dxx-83_aeon2774_1791-1m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-123\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1118\" height=\"1620\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/Dxx-83_AEON2774_1791-1m.jpg\" alt=\"Dante, La divina commedia novamente corretta spiegata e difesa da F.B.L.M.C. Cantica I [The Divine Comedy Newly Corrected, Explained and Defended by Francesco Lombardi]\" class=\"wp-image-123\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>5. <em>Dante, La divina commedia novamente corretta spiegata e difesa da F.B.L.M.C. Cantica I<\/em> [The Divine Comedy Newly Corrected, Explained and Defended by Francesco Lombardi]<\/strong><br>Dante Alighieri (1265\u20131321)<br>Rome, Italy: Antonio Fulgoni, 1791<br>Brown University Library, Chambers Dante Collection<br>Engravings based on the 1568 edition of Bernardino Daniello&#8217;s commentary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/d16_aeon884_pq4476-b47m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-124\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"1244\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/D16_AEON884_PQ4476-B47m.jpg\" alt=\"Il Petrarcha con l'espositione d'Alessandro Vellutello\" class=\"wp-image-124\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>6. <em>Il Petrarcha con l&#8217;espositione d&#8217;Alessandro Vellutello<\/em><\/strong><br>Francesco Petrarca (1304\u20131374)<br>Venice, Italy: Gabriele Giolito, 1547<br>Brown University Library, Hay Star Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image is-resized\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);margin-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40)\"><a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/d17_aeon1816_amb-3s-228m\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-125\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1758\" height=\"1379\" src=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/63\/2018\/06\/D17_AEON1816_AMB-3S-228m.jpg\" alt=\"Geographiae liber primus haec habet\" class=\"wp-image-125\" style=\"width:200px\"\/><\/a><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong>7. <em>Geographiae liber primus haec habet<\/em><\/strong><br>Ptolemy (active second century)<br>Rome, Italy: Pietro della Torre, 1490<br>BUL, Annmary Brown Memorial Collection<br>The coat of arms of Agostino Patrizi Piccolomini, Bishop of Pienza and Montalcino (1483\u20131496), is painted on the left side of the world map. The other arms are to the recipient of the volume, possibly Alfano Alfani<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Florentine mathematician Antonio Manetti is considered the first person to have measured Hell. His calculations were illustrated in a volume published by the Giunti family of printers of Florence in seven woodcuts, the first maps of Dante\u2019s <em>Inferno<\/em> in print <strong>(1, 2)<\/strong>. These maps inspired a visual tradition upheld by the poem\u2019s modern editions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting with the <em>Comedy<\/em>\u2019s first illustrated printed edition in 1481 <strong>(3)<\/strong>, artists, editors and publishers employed different printing techniques and styles to illuminate Dante\u2019s <em>Inferno<\/em>. Maps helped readers more easily grasp the complex moral, philosophical and geographical structure of Dante\u2019s poem, while reflecting the richly cartographic nature of his writing. The poet\u2019s own detailed descriptions of cities, countries, mountains, monuments and bodies of water oriented readers to Hell\u2019s topography. Dante also assigned precise mathematical dimensions to the lowest circles of Hell, sparking a debate among Italy\u2019s most illustrious thinkers about the underworld\u2019s geography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through the circulation of atlases, travelogues, chronicles and globes, sixteenth-century readers could experience worlds both real and imagined. A field of renewed interest in the early fifteenth century, cartography offered another way to situate literary landscapes in the natural world. Indeed, as the author of the 1506 edition argues, readers should consult maps and seafaring charts to accurately navigate the poem\u2019s geography. Comparing maps in editions of Dante <strong>(4, 5)<\/strong> and Petrarch <strong>(6)<\/strong> to contemporary maps in print <strong>(7)<\/strong> reveals how the <em>Comedy<\/em> might have been interpreted through cartography and speaks to the dialogue between geography and literature in the 16th century. Maps also illuminate how cartographical interpretations of the poem began to shore up Dante\u2019s authority in scientific culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:12px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How do maps allow us to access, interpret and understand Hell? Or, as one sixteenth-century author put it, to \u201csee Hell before our eyes?\u201d Florentine mathematician Antonio Manetti is considered the first person to have measured Hell. His calculations were illustrated in a volume published by the Giunti family of printers of Florence in seven <a href=\"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/mapping-hell-cartography-and-the-comedy\/\" class=\"more-link\">&#8230;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Mapping Hell: Cartography and the &lt;em&gt;Comedy&lt;\/em&gt;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full-width-no-menu.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-77","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":411,"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/77\/revisions\/411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.brown.edu\/create\/poetryofscience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}