In honor of the 700th anniversary of the death of the poet, Ann C. Pizzorusso has published a new book, The Gems of Dante’s Divine Comedy (La Gemmologia della Divina Commedia, Italian edition).

Giotto revolutionized art by taking Byzantine iconography and humanizing it. St. Francis’ affinity for the environment influenced the artist Giotto (ca. 1270–1337), who revolutionized art history by taking Byzantine iconography and humanizing it. Giotto’s technique of integrating sacred images into the Earthly landscape was the most powerful form of popularizing...