According to Dante, he first met Beatrice when his father took him to the Portinari house for a May Day party. He only once describes her complexion, and her "emerald" eyes. Beatrice's influence was far from simple inspiration. Dante recounts this experience in "No sooner did I make this suggestion than I thought I sensed the appearance of a marvelous trembling that started on the left side of my chest and spread rapidly throughout my entire body. The name Beatrice then means "bringer of blessing". Beatrice died on June 10 1994. Beatrice sold all her assets and put them into the Bible Garden Trust that administered the garden, as the money set aside for its maintenance was long gone. Then I had to prop myself, Scholars have long debated whether the historical Beatrice is intended to be identified with either or both of the Beatrices in Dante's writings. Born in Manly NSW, Beatrice was the eldest and only girl of five children. She served as Dante’s guide through paradise in his epic poem ‘The Divine Comedy’ (1321). It is perhaps this idea of her being a force for good that he fell in love with, a force which he believed made him a better person.
In Dante's Divine Comedy, Beatrice is the guide who leads Dante out of Purgatory and through Paradise. Beatrice Portinari was the woman who was loved by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. In 1484, Beatrice founded the Congregation of the Immaculate Conceptionof The first scholarships were awarded a ceremony at St Mark's on Ascension Day, 17 May 2007. According to Dante, he first met Beatrice when his father took him to the Portinari house for a Following their first meeting, Dante was so enthralled by Beatrice that he later wrote in In this dream, a mighty figure appeared before him, and spoke to him. Beatrice had a varied ministry career including Divinity Mistress at SCEGGS Redlands, Parish appointments at The Holy Trinity, Dulwich Hill and St Johns, Launceston as well as scripture Teaching in High Schools with the Board of Education.In the 1960's, Gerald Hercules Robinson, Beatrice's father, had resolved to establish a Bible Garden on property he owned at Palm Beach. It was modelled on the garden that had recently been completed in the precincts of the Bangor Cathedral in Wales, UK.Following her father's death in 1972 Beatrice took up residence at the Bible Garden site in Palm Beach and worked very hard not only in the garden itself as well as importing seeds from Israel and plants from all over Australia. And he who held her held also in his hand a thing that was burning in flames, and he said to me "Behold thy heart". Beatrice was a skilled artist and maintained a steady flow of works throughout her life.On returning to Australia she attended Sydney University and in November 1963 graduated with a B.A.,ThL. She appeared as a character in his two greatest works—Having already referred to Beatrice as his salvation, this idea is further touched upon in Although they converse in personal terms, very rarely did their relationship extend beyond a casual street ceremony. surreptitiously, against one of the pictures that ran around the walls of this house; and fearing that someone might have noticed my shaking, I raised my eyes, and looking around at the women, among them I saw that most gracious of creatures, Beatrice." There is a Memorial plaque to her memory in the grounds of St David's at Palm Beach.In her will, Beatrice wished that an endowment be made for a scholarship for a suitable applicant to undertake special theological study and/or study of Biblical botany for the purpose of furthering the objectives of the Bible Garden Memorial Trust. They were both nine years old at the time, though Beatrice was a few months younger than Dante.