Sapìa Salvani

Dante and Virgil meeting Sapia in Purgatory, as illustrated by Gustave DoréSapia Salvani (Siena, c. 1210 – Colle di Val d'Elsa, c. 1278) was a Sienese noblewoman. In Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, she is placed among the envious souls of Purgatory for having rejoiced when her fellow Sienese townspeople, led by her paternal nephew Provenzano Salvani, lost to the Florentine Guelphs at the Battle of Colle Val d'Elsa.

Biography Sapia was born into the powerful Ghibelline Salvani family around 1210. She was widowed by 1268. Sienese forces fought against Florentine forces, ending in the defeat of the Sienese and the death of her paternal nephew, Provenzano Salvani, who was decapitated and his head paraded around the city on a stake.

After the battle, Sapia donated much of her wealth to the hospital she founded with her husband. She is located on the terrace of envy, where envious souls are punished by being dressed in rough sacks the color of rocks and having their eyes sewn shut with iron wire.