_Verba movent,
exampla trahunt_, is a principle which Dante illustrates on every
terrace of Purgatory.
On the terrace of Pride the penitent sees examples of humility carved of
white marble out of the mountain side like Thorwaldsen's Lion, at
Lucerne, Switzerland. Their reality is so compelling that, "not only
Polycletus (the great Greek sculptor) but Nature there would be put to
shame." First to meet the penitent's eyes is the scene of the
Annunciation--the angel Gabriel saluting the Blessed Virgin and
unfolding to her God's plan of making her the Mother of His Son for the
salvation of mankind. In humility she gives her consent in the words:
"Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy
word." That is the attitude in which she is represented in sculpture,
says Dante, an attitude "imprinting those words as expressly as a figure
is stamped in wax" (X, 44). Near that work of art David stands forth in
marble, dancing before the Ark of the Covenant. Trajan, the Roman
emperor, is also seen, interrupting affairs of state to grant a poor
woman a favor. Not only of humility but also of pride are examples
given. Looking down on the pavement over which they slowly walk with
their heavy burdens, the proud have before their eyes the sculptured
punishment of pride as committed by Satan, Briareus, the Giants, Nimrod,
Niobe, Saul and others.
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