Three Mirrors of Dante's Paradiso

Abstract

In the first sphere of Paradise, Dante asks his guide to explain the moon's mottled appearance. Beatrice responds with an elementary lesson in optics, her famous experiment employing three mirrors and a hidden light source (11.94-105).1 Far from extolling the experimental method, she disparages it as the 'only source' of Dante's knowledge, the 'suol fonte ai rivi di vostr'arti' (96). Her emphatic 'suol' implies a sharp contrast between human knowledge and divine revelation: a contrast also implicit in the double meaning of the word 'esperienza: Its primary sense, 'experience: is established in the first canto (72); but in scientific contexts such as II. 94--6, it can also signify 'experiment: Dependent on experiment, man's knowledge of the cosmos is limited, uncertain, incomplete. By contrast, Beatrice's knowledge depends on the experience of boundless certainty that grace reserves for the soul directly illuminated by God. Mirror imagery recurs in the final canto (115-32), when Dante himself experiences divine illumination by gazing on the circles of the Trinity. The first two circles appear as rainbows, an image traditionally explained in medieval optical theory as light reflected from convex clouds acting as natural mirrors. The light of the second circle is a perfect reflection of the first; by implication, the first circle corresponds to the 'verace speglio: or 'truthful mirror: identified with God a few cantos earlier (XXVI. 106). The second circle also functions as a mirror, for on peering into it the pilgrim sees a human image reflected in the divine light. The structure of Paradiso is thus framed by the mirror imagery of two 'esperienze': a physical experiment for its humble prelude; and a spiritual experience for its exalted finale.

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