Gabriel

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Gabriel is one of the three archangels mentioned in the Paradiso. In Canto IV, Beatrice, responding to Platonic doubts about the nature of souls, cites as an example God and the angels, incorporeal spirits, and explicitly recalls the three archangels known to the Christian tradition: Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael. The commentary note on the passage specifies that Gabriel is the angel who brought to Mary the announcement of the birth of Jesus, citing the Gospel of Luke and recalling an analogous passage from the Purgatorio. In Canto IX, during Folco's prophecy, the name returns in relation to the Vatican hill, where the archangel is presented as spreading his wings, in an image linked to the tomb of Saint Peter and the awaited liberation of the Church from the corruption of its pastors. Gabriel is not described as a visible character on stage, but is evoked as an angelic figure of doctrinal and prophetic reference in Beatrice's discourse and in Folco's vision.