Dante Alighieri

Justus van Gent's portrait of Dante Alighieri for Federico da Montefeltro's Famous Men series at Urbino placed the poet among the twenty-eight illustrious figures whose intellectual achievements justified Federico's humanist court. Dante's inclusion alongside Plato, Aristotle, and the Church fathers confirmed his status as a figure of universal culture rather than merely Italian literature. Justus would have worked from the existing portrait tradition — the profile with laurel wreath — as he had no contemporary image to work from.

Dante is shown in strict profile in the established iconographic tradition, the laurel crown and characteristic aquiline nose identifying him for a viewer who knew the earlier portrait canon. Justus van Gent gives the poet's olive-green robe a material weight through his Flemish glazing technique that differentiates his treatment from Italian versions of the same portrait.