Lo zaffiro di Purgatorio I, 13 tra esegesi allegorica ebraica e tradizione mineralogica

At the entrance of the Purgatory, Dante and Virgilio are welcomed by a sapphire-blue sky, which redeems their souls after the visions of the Inferno. The sapphire is defined as being ‘dolce’ and ‘orïental’. In this paper, the reference to this gem is investigated in two different and complementary directions: on the one hand, the stone is analysed in the context of the philosophical mineralogical tradition, especially within Albertus Magnus’ De mineralibus and its sources, such as the Liber de natura rerum by Thomas of Cantimpré. On the other hand, the reference is related to Ex. 24, 10, where the sapphire is the object of the elderlies’ vision. This biblical episode is read through the interpretative key of the allegorical exegesis, as this was presented in the Latin translation of Maimonides’ Guide of the Perplexed. The aim is to emphasise not only affinities with Jewish mysticism, as previously pointed-out by secondary literature, but also with the Jewish exegetical tradition, and especially the allegorical and philosophical interpretation of the Bible.