EYRE CROWE (BRITISH 1824-1910)
The meeting of Dante and Beatrice (La Vita Nuova)
oil on canvas
143 x 197 cm

The present work depicting a scene from the works of Dante Alighieri, The meeting of Dante and Beatrice, who wrote many times about Beatrice Portinari. Dante had fallen in love with her early in his childhood, and her death in 1290 had a major effect on his life. Beatrice appears as a guide in Dante's Divine Comedy.

At the beginning of “Paradiso,” Dante notes:

The eyes of Beatrice were all intent
on the eternal circles; from the sun,
I turned aside; I set my eyes on her.