DANTE & HIS AFTERLIVES: "To see the stars again..."

Have you ever wondered what the Blue Devil on the von der Heyden Pavilion is reading? It’s Dante! The weathervane was created by Greensboro sculptor Jim Galluci in 2005, when the pavilion was built. The stainless steel book in his hand is inscribed with a quotation in Italian from Purgatory 16. The quotation reminds us of our free will and our responsibility in all the choices we make:

The heavens set your appetites in motion—

not all your appetites, but even if

that were the case, you have received both light

on good and evil, and free will, which though

it struggle in its first wars with the heavens,

then conquers all, if it has been well nurtured.