Beata Beatrix

The "reality" of Beatrice has been much debated. Boccaccio identified her as the daughter of Folco Portinari, who married Simone dei Bardi, a member of a Florentine banking family. In the Vita nova Dante tells us of the first time he saw Beatrice, aged eight and dressed in crimson, when he was almost nine years old. She died in 1290, when she was just twenty-four. As well as appearing in the Vita nova and guiding Dante through Paradise in the Commedia, she is mentioned briefly in the Convivio, where Dante says that Beatrice lives in Heaven with the angels and on Earth with his soul.

The nineteenth century saw widespread interest in the Dante and Beatrice of the Vita nova. A number of translations were made, including one by the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828–1882). The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood often painted medieval subjects, frequently taken from Dante, and Beatrice featured in several paintings by Rossetti.