Commentary Par XV 25

Anchises' affectionate gesture of welcome to his son, a visitor in the Elysian Fields (Aen. VI.684-686), is clearly recalled here.  Less clear is the validity of the Schnappian claim (Schn.1986.1, pp. 203-6) that the gesture is taken by Dante to be an unconscious Virgilian representation of the Christian posture of prayer, the so-called 'orant pose' (both hands raised, open toward one stationed in front of the figure) as seen in Saint Apollinaris beneath the mosaic of the bejewelled cross in the apsidal chapel of his church in Ravenna (see C.Par.XV.22-24).  Schnapp's thesis is appealing; however, Anchises holds his hands out toward his son, not upwards with palms raised, as far as we can tell from Virgil's text.