Inferno

I was also wondering if you were referring to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "Inferno".

It also goaded me into finally reading Dante's original.

Then after reading Dante's "Inferno", I tried continuing on into "Purgatorio", but it was just too damn boring. I hear that "Paradisio" is even worse.

Incidentally, I also like the art - and literature - of the period that Markaba mentioned. However, my interest is primarily on the literature side, so most of those names don't mean so much to me.