Canto II/3: Butterflies

Lithograph proof approved by the artist and signed / initialled by him, taken from the original Talford Press edition of 185, printed on 100% rag, acid-free Inveresk (Somerset) paper

page size 39.5 x 31 cm

1979 – 1983

The strange South American butterfly Catagramma Neglecta is sometimes referred to as the '88' or '89' Butterfly. The number nine is Beatrice's number and the number eight enters the story at her death, forming a link with the Virgin Mary who died on the eighth day of the ninth month.

Here the butterfly, kindly given to the artist by David Attenborough from his own collection, is seen as the realisation of Beatrice descending to Virgil as the emissary of Mary.