Celebrated around the world as a literary monument, The Divine
Comedy, completed in 1321 and written by Dante Alighieri
(1265-1321), is widely considered the greatest work ever composed
in the Italian language. The epic poem describes Dante's journey
through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, representing, on a deeper
level, the soul's path towards salvation. 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 infernal suffering to
celestial light, from horrifying human disfigurement to the
perfection of physical form. While faithful to the text, Blake also
brought his own perspective to some of Dante's central themes.
Today, Blake's illustrations, left in various stages of completion
at the time of his death, are dispersed among seven different
institutions. This TASCHEN edition brings these works together
again, alongside key excerpts from Dante's masterpiece. Two
introductory essays consider Dante and Blake, as well as other
major artists who have been inspired by The Divine Comedy,
including Sandro Botticelli, Michelangelo, Eugene Delacroix,
Gustave Dore, and Auguste Rodin. With an intimate reading of
Blake's illustrations, and many close-ups to allow the most
delicate of details to dazzle, this is a breathtaking encounter
with two of the finest artistic talents in history, as well as with
such universal themes as love, guilt, punishment, revenge, and
redemption.
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