Inferno

I happened across a new art exhibition today in an old church. It's Dante Alighieri month and it is an exhibit on the Divine Comedy. Well The church has the front door and a big painting on a wall in front of you when you walk in. Then you need to decide whether to go right or left past the wall. I chose left. Who knows why.

As you may already know Dante's Divine Comedy is divided into four parts. Heaven, Purgatory, Limbo and Hell.

Well I just happened to enter into the Hell side. I walked all the way round the back of the church and back down the other side which was Purgatory then Heaven.

I can't help but think that somehow it all means something that I did it all in that order. Ok so the book was written in that order, but still... Why did I have to go left?

In any case a funny thing happened. At the exit there was a table with postcards on it depicting some of the paintings in the exhibit. Each visitor could take a postcard each. I studied them all and chose the one I liked best, but I couldn't remember having seen the painting so I asked the guard. He took me back to where the paintings were and said that it must be there somewhere because he had seen it. I looked at each painting closely but could not find mine. Then, from a dark curtained room in the middle of the church, that I thought was off limits, the guard reappeared saying "It's in Limbo!". I cracked up. I thought it was pretty ironic that the "missing" painting would be in limbo.

It was a spectacular painting. I might have to go back and study it some more.