The work refers to Sandro Botticelli's "Mappa dell'Inferno," which he painted in Florence at the end of the 15th century. Botticelli created a kind of illustration for Dante's "Divina Commedia" (The Divine Comedy) from the early 14th century.

Botticelli designed his "Mappa" in such a way that it almost resembles a contemporary cross-section of an open-pit mine. The axis runs from Jerusalem through the center of the earth to the opposite side of the globe, where a high mountain (purgatory) rises up.

In this sense, Dante knew that if there is a withdrawal, there must also be an accumulation somewhere else.