Florence's mosaic of Christ wallpaper addition!

Need something to brighten your Monday morning?

Then how about a wallpaper of the famous Mosaic of Jesus the Pantacrator (ruler of all), which adorns the ceiling of the baptistery in Florence, Italy?

Just click on the picture above to get the full-size desktop-wallpaper-ratio version.

More pictures of the Mosaic ceiling baptistery in Florence.

More pictures of the entire baptistery in Florence.

More pictures of the entire Duomo (church) in Florence.

(hmm, I sense an educational opportunity...)

Dante Aligheiri, famed writer of the Divine Comedy and one of Florence's most noteworthy citizens, was baptized in this building. Moreover, the devil represented in the baptistery's mosaic is depicted in roughly the same way Dante describes him in the Comedia (you can see him munching Judas, Brutus and Cassius off to the right side of this picture).

Oh yes, and I greatly prefer Dorothy Sayer's English translation of the Divine Comedy, both for keeping the original rhyme scheme of the Italian, as well as the superlative notes and analysis:

[Hell] - [Purgatory] - [Heaven]

still interested? Then, Dante on the web is for you.

and finally, The Dante Quiz: Discover your fate! (if you are brave enough.)