Purgatory is a place that the roman catholics described as a place "of temporal punishment for those who, departing this life in , are, not entirely free from venial faults, or have not fully paid the satisfaction due to their transgressions." This is a place of temporary punishment and purification. Those in purgatory are destined for heaven and will not be sent to hell. Purgatory played a huge role just before the reformation as the church would take indulgences from family members hoping to help their loved ones move on into heaven.
In Bronzino's "Dante gazing at purgatory" he showcases purgatory in a soft way a opposed to other pieces which depict the separation of heaven, purgatory, and hell in a very graphic and violent way. In this piece, Dante is staring at the seven layer mountain of purgatory and just above the mountain is a beam of light depicting heaven. Just beneath him is a small glimpse of the flames of hell. The reason for having dante in this painting is because he wrote the divine comedy. '“Inferno” (hell) and “Purgatory” are two of the canticles, or major sections of Dante’s famous poem, which he simply titled Comedy"(The Divine Comedy) "but what began to be called “Divine” around the time this picture was made."'
http://catholicherald.com/stories/Dante-prophet-of-the-Year-of-Mercy,30365
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12575a.htm
This is a really interesting post, Jimmy. You gave a very nice explanation of purgatory and an example of a different take on purgatory than most had.
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