“Out of our midst he plucked the shadeVirgil to Dante, Inferno IV, 55-63 (Hollander translation)
of our first parent, of Abel his son, of Noah,
and of Moses, obedient in giving laws,
the patriarch Abraham, and David the king,
Israel with his father and his sons,
and with Rachel, for whom he served so long,
as well as many others, and he made them blessed.
And, I would have you know, before these
no human souls were saved.”
Art: Duccio di Buoninsegna
