Yellow Nineties 2.0

V5 The Car of Beatrice SAVOYV5_icon5 SAVOYV5_icon5 The Savoy Botticelli September 1896 London 12 x 17.5 cm illustration drawing Late Medieval Early Renaissance purgatory supernatural world man poet Dante apostle Mark Luke John woman Beatrice presentation chariot Car of Beatrice wings path books robes lion ox griffin bird eagle V5 The Car of Beatrice This halftone reproduction of Botticelli’s illustration of a scene from Dante’s Divine Comedy is in landscape orientation. The image shows a scene with many small groups of people doing different activities such as walking, reading, and dancing. Beatrice’s car, a presentation chariot pulled by a griffin, is in the centre of the composition. On the left, about halfway up from the bottom edge, is a vertical line of people standing and walking in a line towards the background while holding books up above them in their right hands. The people are wearing robes that wrap around their bodies. They all have their heads turned up to look at the books they hold above. They have their backs to the viewer, and there are about seven of them in total. To the right of that line of people, and slightly foregrounded, is a circle of people standing close together. The people are also wearing loose, robe-like garments. They have their hands resting on each other’s shoulders and arms. They appear to be either dancing or fighting, and definitely in motion. Above and to the right of that group is another small group of about four people who are leaned diagonally forward into each other. The people appear to have their hands raised up and linked together, forming a dance circle. They are wearing loose garments. Straight down the page from this group, standing in the foreground, are two figures with their backs to the viewer. The figure on the left has their right arm tucked around the person on the right’s back. Their left arm is raised up above their head. The figure has on a dress that bunches up in three tiers. They both have light and long hair flowing down their backs. The figure to the right has on a plain dress with an A-line shape, and has their head turned to the left to face the other figure. Slightly to the right and up the page is the griffin. The griffin is facing left, in profile, with its mouth open and a long barbed tongue sticking out. The griffin’s eyes are dark black and has its ears pointed forwards. The griffin has furry feathers lining its face and upper torso. The griffin’s front feet are made of talons, and the back feet are paws. The griffin’s mid and lower torso are like a horse’s, with the tail of a lion hanging down the back. The griffin also has huge wings spanning out from the sides of its chest and backwards and upwards. There are two long pieces of wood that attach one on either side of the griffin’s chest above the wings and extend back towards the right side of the page where they connect with the chariot. The chariot is turned to face towards the bottom left. The car or chariot has a large lounge bed with ornamented wood panels on the sides. The chariot has a small griffin walking beside it on its right side, hidden from the viewer by the chariot apart from its bird’s or eagle’s head (representing John). There is a large wheel visible on the left side of the chariot. Another supernatural creature pushes the chariot by applying its chest to the back left corner of the vehicle. This creature appears to be an ox with large wings sprouting from the sides of its chest (representing the apostle Luke). Sitting inside the chariot is Beatrice, a robed female figure leaning against the right of the lounge seat and looking out towards the figures walking with books. She has long and light coloured hair, with a small crown atop their head. Behind the chariot is another group of people. These people are also in a small circle and holding hands above their heads. These figures are followed in the procession by another supernatural creature. This creature is a lion with wings (representing the apostle Mark). The lion is following in the direction of the chariot. There is another group of book holders in the top right corner of the page. This group is facing towards the bottom left corner of the page and wearing long robes. The figures are holding the books with their fronts facing outwards and in both hands at the height of their chests. There are five book-holders, with two book-less figures standing in front of them. In the foreground of the chariot, and in the bottom right corner on the page, is a circle of people dancing and holding raised hands, but this time there are people trailing beside them. The trail of people beside appear to sink into a pathway on the ground, shown only by their raised arms and face, with the rest of their bodies sunk below ground level. Two figures are standing on the pathway, a woman and a man walking behind. The woman has her left hand stuck out and to the left, with her right hand pulling up the right side of her skirt to step around the figures that are sinking around her feet and reaching out to her. The man walks behind wearing a robe and a bonnet with a long beard. The path starts in the centre of the bottom edge of the page and extends diagonally up and to the right. At the halfway height of the right edge of the page the path goes out of the frame and then turns back in up and to the left ending in the distant background in the top right corner of the page. There are a series of horizontal lines across the top edge of the page In the bottom right corner, watching the procession, are two robed figures; one of these likely represents the poet Dante. The image is outlined in a single-edged border.