William Blake: Dante s Divine Comedy . the Complete Drawings (Hardcover)

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 Eugène Delacroix Gustave Doré 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.