The Divine Comedy with illustrations by Gustave Doré
29.99 €
In stock
The Divine Comedy with illustrations by Gustave Doré
29.99 €
The Divine Comedy has been a symbol of spiritual revival for seven centuries. At the time of its writing in 1307, Dante Alighieri had been banished from Florence. Finding no help in the living, the former politician and thinker called on the dead to stand in his defense and created a work in Italian that has forever glorified the national literature of Italy. Combining features of both ancient and Christian culture. The Comedy, along with Virgil's Aeneid and the Bible, is considered prophetic to this day. In his vision, Dante, accompanied by Virgil, the greatest playwright of antiquity, descended into the afterlife, where he passed through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. And the lower the travelers descended into Hell, the more Dante's hero was imbued with sympathy for sinners - the forgotten and glorious heroes of antiquity. In this symbol-filled vision, everything - animal, stone, and even man - plays its destined role in the divine Providence. More than 500 years later, Dante's melancholy visions were transformed into frighteningly naturalistic visual images by the artist Gustave Doré. Inspired by medieval images, Botticelli's paintings and Michelangelo's frescoes, the romanticist Doré created some 150 engravings of the poem between 1855 and 1869. The first edition with illustrations for the "Inferno" part was completely sold out as soon as the edition was published in 1861. At the same time, Gustave Doré's friend Théophile Gautier wrote: "There is no other artist who could illustrate Dante better than Doré. He has that visionary look, which is inherent in the Poet. The artist creates the atmosphere of hell: underground mountains and abysses, frowning skies where there is never any sun. He conveys this unearthly climate with stunning conviction.
See also:
- All books by the publisher
- All books by the author
- All books in the series Collector's book