In Paradiso Canto XXXIII, Dante's final vision represents the Trinity as what image?

In Paradiso Canto XXXIII, Dante's final vision represents the Trinity as three circles. At the climax of the Divine Comedy, Dante sees the divine light as three equally sized circles occupying the same space. They signify the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit: three persons united in one God.

The image reflects the poem's deep investment in the number three. The Divine Comedy has three cantiche, each part uses a three-based poetic structure, and the Trinity supplies the theological foundation of the whole journey. Dante describes one circle as appearing reflected in another, while the third seems like fire breathed equally by the other two.

Within the second circle, Dante perceives the image of a human figure, representing Christ's Incarnation and the union of divine and human natures. The vision is not three separate stars, crosses, or ladders. Dante can glimpse the mystery but cannot fully explain how the circles fit together; divine grace, rather than reasoning alone, enables his final understanding.