The Day Dante Saw Beatrice’s Eyes and Lost All His Enemies

How Dante’s Beatrice reveals the gaze that makes enemies disappear

The FASO Way newsletter — exploring how to thrive as an artist in the age of AI

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We have another post today by Eugene Terekhin, the man and the mind behind the publication Philosophy of Language.

Eugene is a regular contributing writer to The FASO Way.

This article will be locked in two days for paying members only.

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Feature Article:

The Day Dante Saw Beatrice’s Eyes and Lost All His Enemies

Dante first sees his Muse, Beatrice Portinari

“Whenever and wherever she appeared, by virtue of my hope in her marvelous greeting, no one could be my enemy; on the contrary, a flame of charity possessed me, making me forgive anyone who had offended me. And if anyone had then asked me anything, my only answer would have been: ‘Love,’ with a countenance clothed in humility.”

—Dante, Vita Nuova

❤️ Please click the Like button—the little heart icon at the top and bottom—if you want more artists and art lovers to encounter this kind of marvelous gaze: the one that melts resentment, awakens virtue from within, and leaves us with Dante’s only answer to every question: “Love.” It also helps us better promote the arts to those who need support.

In Vita Nuova, Dante tells of his first meeting with Beatrice and says that when he caught her gaze, he suddenly realized that no one could be his enemy. He immediately forgave everyone.

We have all experienced something like this at some point in our lives – that marvelous sense of inner freedom arising from the way someone looks at us. What is contained in such a gaze?

It is a gaze that reveals to us who we truly are. When someone discerns the mystery of our being, and we see it reflected in their eyes, we change immediately. We are reborn in an instant. Suddenly, the world itself is transformed before our eyes.

There are no enemies anymore. We find that we cannot hate anyone. If someone were to tell us that we should hate our enemies, we would not have the strength to do so. If we were told what was said to the ancients, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy,” we would simply shrug our shoulders and reply, “I’m sorry, but I can’t hate anyone now. I am too much in love.”

😊 I built FASO to push back against a world that treats art like content and artists like algorithms. Your work is more important than that. The world needs beauty more than ever. If our mission appeals to you, then you need a serious, beautiful home for your art, the details are below, after the essay.

—Clint

We would naturally – or perhaps supernaturally – find ourselves fulfilling Christ’s command: “Love your enemies.” When we know who we are, when we have read it in another’s gaze, loving people is no longer the problem. Hating them is.

Without this gaze, forgiveness is often a struggle. Not an external struggle to stop hating the offender, but an internal struggle with ourselves – a struggle born of not knowing who we are. Jesus knew who He was because He saw Himself in His Father’s gaze. That is why He could not hate.

Dante emphasizes that his ability to love his enemies came “by virtue of my hope in her marvelous greeting.” “By virtue of” means “through the power of.” When he saw the way Beatrice looked at him, he was suddenly filled with a strength that did not originate within himself.

He did not forgive his enemies through his own natural strength, determination, or moral effort. He forgave them through the power of that marvelous greeting.

The only way to become truly strong is to encounter the Divine Gaze. It is impossible to become virtuous through willpower. True virtue awakens from within when we are overwhelmed by the gaze of love coming from beyond ourselves.

In an encounter with Absolute Beauty, we melt, surrender, and become what we were made to be – lovers. In that moment, the world around us is transformed. There is no hatred left in it. We do not struggle to forgive; we struggle to hate.

And when we are asked anything – whatever problem or question life may place before us – we find ourselves giving Dante’s answer: “Love.”

By virtue of this marvelous Gaze, we become true virtuosos, for our virtue no longer arises from self-effort but from an invisible fountain within, overflowing with living water from beyond the world.

“Beauty awakens the soul to act.”

— Dante, Purgatorio XVIII

PS — This is part of the mystery of Art—we must learn, as artists, to awaken virtue within by seeing the gaze of existence that overwhelms us; the gaze of love.

One of the reasons I built FASO is because I believe art is important, artists are important, and the work you’re called to create deserves to be taken seriously. We are all sharing “miracles of existence” through our art.

Yes, at FASO, we build professional artist websites. Yes, we talk about marketing. Yes, we give artists tools to present their work, tell their stories, reach collectors, and sell more art.

But that is the how.

The why is that we love art, and we want to push back against a world that too often treats art like content and artists like algorithms. The modern world denigrates Beauty in preference of profit and efficiency. At FASO, we hold Beauty sacred.

So we don’t just host artist websites. We promote artists. We feature their work. We try, in our own small way, to help more art find the people who need it. And that informs everything we do and build.

If that resonates with you, we’d be honored to have you join us.

PPS — If you’re not ready to look at FASO, you can support our mission by simply clicking the heart icon at the top or bottom of this article. That helps us reach more artists and art lovers and helps us spread Beauty to a world that is desperate for it.
—Clint

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Success! What Nobody Tells You About Making It

New FASO Podcast (Episode 182)

What does it actually mean to make it as an artist? We’re not talking about the bubblegum advice you find on Instagram. We’re talking about the real work of being an artist; the day-in, day-out marathon; the changing goals artists experience as their careers progress. In this episode we wade out into the weeds of making it in the visual art business.

We’ve had the privilege of sitting down with some of the most seasoned working artists we know, and when we ask them about success, the answers always surprise us. So for this episode, we’ve pulled together some of the most honest, hard-won perspectives from past guests. These veterans share what success actually requires, what it costs, and what it turns into over time.