The Procession of the Church and the Griffin

The Procession of the Church and the Griffin is the central allegorical vision of the Earthly Paradise, the most elaborate symbolic tableau in the entire Divine Comedy. It unfolds as a majestic, slow-moving pageant that combines scriptural, mythological, and ecclesiastical imagery to dramatize the history of the Church, the Incarnation, and the ultimate triumph of divine justice. The event marks the threshold of Dante's final purification and the moment when Beatrice, his lost love and now his guide through Paradise, first appears to him in glory.

The Setting and the Prelude

The procession takes place on the far side of the River Lethe, within the Earthly Paradise atop Mount Purgatory. Dante, having passed through the purifying fire of the Seventh Terrace, enters the ancient forest, dense and living-green, where a softly-breathing air, no mutation in itself, smites his forehead no heavier than a gentle wind. The branches bow toward the side where the Holy Mountain casts its first shadow, and the little birds sing with full ravishment the hours of prime. A stream, the Lethe, cuts off his path, its waters moving with a brown, brown current under the perpetual shade that never lets in ray of sun or moon. On the opposite bank, a lady all alone—Matilda—goes singing and culling floweret after floweret, her pathway all painted over. She explains that the place is the nest of human nature, given by the Good Supreme as a hansel of eternal peace, and that the water springs from a fountain safe and certain, which by the will of God as much regains as it discharges, open on two sides: Lethe, which takes away all memory of sin, and Eunoe, which restores the memory of every good deed done.

The Procession Unfolds

As Dante follows Matilda along the bank, a sudden lustre runs across the spacious forest, making him doubt if it were lightning, but it continues brightening more and more. A delicious melody runs along the luminous air. Then, in front of them, the air beneath the verdant boughs becomes like an enkindled fire, and the sweet sound as singing now is heard. Seven trees of gold in semblance appear, but as Dante approaches, the faculty that lends discourse to reason apprehends that they are candlesticks, and in the voices of the song "Hosanna!" Above them flames the harness beautiful, far brighter than the moon in the serene of midnight at the middle of her month. Behind the candlesticks come people garmented in white, such a whiteness never was on earth. The water on Dante's left flank is resplendent, reflecting his left side as a mirror. The flamelets onward go, leaving behind themselves the air depicted with sevenfold lists, all of the colours whence the sun's bow is made and Delia's girdle. Under so fair a heaven, the four and twenty Elders, two by two, come incoronate with flower-de-luce, singing: "Blessed thou among the daughters of Adam art, and blessed for evermore shall be thy loveliness." After them come four animals, incoronate each one with verdant leaf, plumed with six wings, the plumage full of eyes like the eyes of Argus. The interval between these four contains a chariot triumphal on two wheels, drawn by a Griffin. The Griffin extends both his wings between the middle list and three and three, so that he injures none by cleaving it; his limbs are gold, so far as he is bird, and white the others with vermilion mingled. Three maidens at the right wheel come onward dancing: one so very red that in the fire she hardly had been noted; the second as if her flesh and bones had all been fashioned out of emerald; the third appeared as snow but newly fallen. Upon the left hand, four make holiday, vested in purple, following the measure of one of them with three eyes in her head. In rear of all the group, two old men appear, unlike in habit but like in gait, each dignified and grave. One shows himself as one of the disciples of that supreme Hippocrates; the other carries a sword so shining and so sharp it causes terror. Thereafter four of humble aspect appear, and behind all an aged man alone, walking in sleep with countenance acute. These seven are habited like the foremost company, but wear garlands of the rose and other flowers vermilion instead of the flower-de-luce.

The Griffin and the Chariot

The Griffin, a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle, is the central symbolic figure of the procession. It draws the chariot, which represents the Church, with its two wheels signifying the Old and New Testaments or the active and contemplative lives. The Griffin's dual nature—both lion and eagle, both human and divine—is a clear allegory for the two natures of Christ, united in one person. The chariot itself is triumphal, on two wheels, and the Griffin's wings extend upward between the middle list and three and three, so that he injures none by cleaving it. The three maidens at the right wheel represent the three theological virtues: Faith (white), Hope (green), and Charity (red). The four on the left represent the four cardinal virtues: Prudence (with three eyes), Justice, Fortitude, and Temperance. The two old men are the authors of the Acts of the Apostles (Luke) and the Epistles (Paul), the latter with a sword. The four of humble aspect are the four major prophets, and the aged man alone is John the Evangelist, who wrote the Apocalypse.

The Appearance of Beatrice

When the chariot is opposite to Dante, thunder is heard, and all that folk august seem to have further progress interdicted. The Septentrion of the highest heaven—the seven candlesticks—motionless halts, and the veracious people that came at first between it and the Griffin turn themselves to the car, as to their peace. One of them, as if by Heaven commissioned, sings "Veni, sponsa, de Libano" three times, and all the others after. Then, as the Blessed at the final summons shall rise up quickened each one from his cavern, a hundred rise upon that celestial chariot, ministers and messengers of life eternal, scattering flowers above and round about, singing "Manibus o date lilia plenis." In the bosom of a cloud of flowers, over her snow-white veil with olive cinct, appears a lady under a green mantle, vested in colour of the living flame. Dante's spirit, which had not stood abashed in her presence for so long a time, feels the mighty influence of ancient love. He turns to Virgil, crying, "Not a drachm of blood remains in me, that does not tremble; I know the traces of the ancient flame." But Virgil has departed. Beatrice, standing on the left-hand border of the car, addresses Dante by name, saying, "Look at me well; in sooth I'm Beatrice!" She rebukes him for his waywardness after her death, and he, overcome with shame and grief, confesses his fault. The angels sing "In te, Domine, speravi," and Beatrice, after her stern reproach, relents, explaining that she visited the gates of death and interceded with Virgil to lead him through Hell and Purgatory.

The Allegorical Significance

The Procession of the Church and the Griffin is the most concentrated allegorical passage in the Divine Comedy, synthesizing the entire history of salvation and the Church's role in it. The candlesticks represent the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit; the twenty-four elders are the books of the Old Testament; the four animals are the Evangelists; the Griffin is Christ; the chariot is the Church; the three theological and four cardinal virtues are the guides of the soul. The appearance of Beatrice, who is both Dante's personal beloved and a symbol of divine revelation, marks the culmination of the pilgrim's journey through Purgatory and his preparation for the vision of God. The procession also prefigures the subsequent allegorical drama of the Church's corruption and renewal, which unfolds in the following cantos as the chariot is attacked by an eagle, a fox, a dragon, and finally transformed into a monstrous whore ridden by a giant. Thus, the procession is not only a moment of beatific vision but also the prologue to a profound meditation on the historical failures of the Church and the promise of its eventual restoration.