In the Inferno Dante refers to “the contemplative Rachel.” I only know the personality of Rachel from the Jewish perspective where she is certainly not presented as contemplative. Do you know the origin of this Christian characterization?
She is described as representing the vita contemplativa by Gregory the Great, Thomas Aquinas, and others. I don’t know how this got started (Philo of Alexandria certainly presents her in quite opposite terms), but these later Christian writers mention the fact of her prolonged infertility as indicative that pure contemplation, while wonderful on its own terms, is sterile and ultimately leads to nothing.