Within a dark forest: Dante by Blake: rarely seen illustrations of the Divine ComedyDante Alighieri's Divine Comedy (completed in 1321) is widely considered the greatest work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. On the surface, the poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven; but at a deeper level, it represents the soul's journey towards God.In the last few years of his life, Romantic poet and artist William Blake (1757-1827) produced 102 illustrations for Dante's masterwork, from pencil sketches to finished watercolors. Like Dante's sweeping poem, Blake's drawings range from scenes of suffering to light, from horrifying human disfigurement to the perfection of physical form. While faithful to the text, Blake also brought his own perspective to bear on some of Dante's central themes, introducing his own elements of understanding to such vast ideas as sin, guilt, punishment, revenge, and salvation.Today, Blake's illustrations, left in various stages of completion at the time of his death, are dispersed among seven different institutions. This new edition brings the images together once again, alongside excerpts from Dante's masterpiece, in a stunning pairing of two of the finest artistic talents in history. Also included are an introduction to the Divine Comedy and an analysis of Blake's illustrations.

Notes: p. 137-162. Bibliography: p. 167-168. Index.

Discover William Blake's complete 102 illustrations for The Divine Comedy, with excerpts from Dante's epic poem. Featuring an intimate reading of Blake's extraordinary works and many close-up details, this is a breathtaking encounter with two of the finest artistic talents in history, as well as with such universal themes as love, guilt, ...

The finest translation to date of one of the most important classical spiritual writings in the history of the Western world.

Dante's 'Divine Comedy' is one of the masterworks of European literature. This volume presents John Flaxman's illustrations of all 99 cantos of Dante's poem.

Gustave Doré (1832–83) was perhaps the most successful illustrator of the nineteenth century. His Doré Bible was a treasured possession in countless homes, and his best-received works continued to appear through the years in edition after edition. His illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy constitute one of his most highly regarded efforts and were Doré's personal favorites. The present volume reproduces with excellent clarity all 135 plates that Doré produced for The Inferno, Purgatory, and Paradise. From the depths of hell onto the mountain of purgatory and up to the empyrean realms of paradise, Doré's illustrations depict the passion and grandeur of Dante's masterpiece in such famous scenes as the embarkation of the souls for hell, Paolo and Francesca (four plates), the forest of suicides, Thaïs the harlot, Bertram de Born holding his severed head aloft, Ugolino (four plates), the emergence of Dante and Virgil from hell, the ascent up the mountain, the flight of the eagle, Arachne, the lustful sinners being purged in the seventh circle, the appearance of Beatrice, the planet Mercury, and the first splendors of paradise, Christ on the cross, the stairway of Saturn, the final vision of the Queen of Heaven, and many more. Each plate is accompanied by appropriate lines from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow translation of Dante's work.