Dante Alighiere, PURGATORIO, Canto XXXI

Illustration by Salvador Dali
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Beatrice continues her reprehension of Dante, who confesses his error, and falls to the ground: coming to himself again, he is by Matilda drawn through the waters of Lethe, and presented first to the four virgins who figure the cardinal virtues; this in their turn lead him to the Gryphon, a simbol of our Saviour; and the three virgins, representing the evangelical virtues, intercede for him with Beatrice, that she would display to him her second beauty.