The image of the disciple "following"/"imitating" his master/model is of crucial importance both in the "Divine Comedy" and in the "Chemin de long estude". In both works, this image is far more than a "topos" borrowed from the classical tradition. To understaod its significance, it is necessary to reconstruct its religious and historical context. Already between the 12th and the 14th century, under the influence of the "imitatio Christi", the notion of "following"/"imitating" a philosophical and aesthetical model becomes a most important, most complex notion. For both Dante and Christine, "following"/"imitating" an author means, firstly, to determine the meaning and the value of this author (and of his writings) for the present and, secondly, to determine one's own "value" as an author as well as the significance of one's own works.