Paolo and Francesca (Inferno) are the Dantean lovers who appear in the Descent, a CDI gesta (campaign-cycle) following the circles of Inferno. Minos judged them and condemned them to the Second Circle, where the eternal storm drags them ceaselessly along with the other lustful.
Their story is the diegetic model for the ritual union of two souls. The catalyst of their kiss, reading Lancelot together, echoes the theme of the book as a door to perdition or transcendence, recurrent in the shared cosmos.
See also
- Thel: guide of the Descent, who crosses the Second Circle.
- Lost Ones: the damned of the Ante-Inferno, in contrast with those classified by Minos.