• It must not be forgotten, that Beatrice is the symbol of Divine Wisdom. Dante says, Convito , III 15:⁠— “In her countenance appear things which display some of the pleasures of Paradise”; and notes particularly “the eyes and smile.” He then adds:⁠— “And here it should be known that the eyes of Wisdom are its demonstrations, by which the truth is most clearly seen; and its smile the persuasions, in which is displayed the interior light of Wisdom under a veil; and in these two things is felt the exceeding pleasure of beatitude, which is the chief good in Paradise. This pleasure cannot exist in anything here below, except in beholding these eyes and this smile.” ↩