Giovanni Di Paolo - Illuminations of Dante's Paradiso

Illuminations of Dante's Paradiso

After being appointed rector of the painter's guild in 1441, Giovanni di Paolo was the clear choice to illuminate Dante's Paradiso. Working on what is known today as "The Yates Thompson Dante", Giovanni created 61 images to accompany the vernacular poem (two other unknown artists worked on the Inferno and Purgatorio illuminations). Giovanni di Paolo used his unique style to create an obviously Tuscan panorama in a sun-filled world that is much lighter and fresher than the two previous artists of the Inferno and Purgatorio. One of the more famous illuminations from the cycle is The Creation and The Expulsion from Paradise (1445). Giovanni created a unique image by showing two separate scenes in one; God floating above the universe and the expulsion of Adam and Eve. One theory is that God is simultaneously expelling Adam and Eve and banishing them to earth. But why then is his hand not pointing directly to the earth? A viable argument for this question is that by following the gaze of God's gesture the viewer's eye is led to a specific point on the Zodiac circle. Looking to the 11:00 position of the Zodiac circle, because it's the only symbol still recognizable, one can discern the symbol of Pisces which is not in its traditional position. Following the circle, in the 12:00 position is Aires and in the 1:00 position is Taurus. Traditionally in medieval times these signs represent spring, more importantly to this image, they represent the season of the Feast of the Annunciation. God seems to point directly to the date of the feast, March 25. One proposed reasoning for such gesture is that it is to remind the viewer of the Annunciation's significance, and to reflect upon "the purpose of the coming of Christ - to "repair the Fall" enacted by Adam and Eve in the adjoining sector of the panel, and to redeem the sins of man, which their Expulsion represents." Another interesting part of this image is that earth is encircled by multicolored rings. One argument is because during this time a geocentric view of the universe was widely accepted, Giovanni was simply following Dante's description of a "terrestrial world bounded by the orbits of the heavenly spheres". This theory is often challenged by pointing out that Dante only assigns ten circles but Giovanni depicts twelve. Some scholars believe Giovanni was referencing a book called the Sphera, which was made for lay people to give them a better understanding of the universe based on Greek cosmology (Chaos), which would account for Giovanni number of circles and also their colors.