Purgatorio

Dante falls asleep and dreams of a golden eagle sweeping him into the sky. Waking, he finds that it’s morning, and that he and Virgil have been carried to the portal of Purgatory proper. A lady named Lucia carried Dante, Virgil explains, while he followed behind. The two approach a gate in Purgatory’s outer wall; before it, an angel sits on the stair, holding a blindingly bright sword. After Virgil explains that Beatrice has sent them on this journey, the angel welcomes them to enter.

Virgil and Dante climb three steps—the first of marble, the second of rough stone, the third of bright-red gemstones—toward the angel. Beating his breast in a sign of penitence, Dante falls before the angel and asks to be admitted. Before letting Dante in, the angel writes seven “P”s on Dante’s brow with his sword-point. He tells Dante to wash off these scars as he travels through Purgatory. Using a set of gold and silver keys, the angel unlocks the gate. As the gate opens, Dante hears the hymn Te Deum laudamus.