Barbariccia

Profile

In the verses provided, Barbariccia appears as a designated member of the squad of devils that must escort the two pilgrims into the pitch-filled bolgia: in Canto XXI he is indicated as the one who leads the ten, while in Canto XXII he is recalled as he draws near during the action. The authorized notes place his name among the ten imaginative demons coined by Dante, aimed at fusing visual and sonic elements in an effect of arrogance and aggressive farcicality, typical of the bolgia that Dante wanted to be "comic." The introduction to Canto XXI specifies that this diabolical troupe is the protagonist of a parenthesis in comic style, set against the dramatic scene below Dis, and that the devils appear as good-natured figures, typical of novella and farce.