Written by Dante between 1304 and 1319 and given the name by Giovanni Boccaccio in the later 14th century ("Dante."), The Divine Comedy, is regarded as one of the many contemporary classics. The series of poems follows the character Dante through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso, three levels of the afterlife inspired by Biblical and Greco-Roman stories. Dante begins in Inferno with his guide Virgil and, with detailed imagery, goes down the multiple levels of hell until he reaches Satan and the transition to Purgatorio. His first collection of cantos, Inferno, is the most well-known due to the exemplary writing and the belief that there was a slight degradation of writing in the next group of cantos. Additionally, Inferno was the first to be translated into English, assisting in its recognition. Regardless, Inferno is considered a part of a greater group of writing produced by Dante. Dante died during his exile in 1321 but his manuscript was spread across Europe through lecturers such as Giovanni Boccaccio and Petrarch (Cartwright). Then, in 1481, Sandro Botticelli assisted the writings with eighteen illustrations, publishing the first written and drawn Divine Comedy, and kickstarted the relationship between Renaissance art and artists with the text (Cartwright).
Dante’s influence on the arts is undoubtable, with several renowned artists gaining inspiration from the passages in his poems and creating magnificent works of art thereafter. The first well-known work of art produced was by Sandro Botticelli. Sandro Botticelli was a prolific artist and was regarded very highly in the artistic sphere (Cartwright). A connection between Botticelli’s popularity and influence on multiple aspects of Renaissance art could be applied to the artistic interpretations of the Divine Comedy where many more artists began to use Dante’s cantos as inspiration. Other artists such as John Flaxman, William Blake, Gustave Dore, Salvador Dali (de Rooy) and even Michelangelo were all directly influenced by Dante. The focus of this paper will be on two artists: William Blake and Gustavo Dare, and their connections to Dante and each other.
The reasoning behind why I chose to analyze the relationship between artistic representations and the cantos is due to the further understanding I gained after seeing many of these images. As someone who does not have a strong background in older forms of English, viewing images alongside the readings helped me envision the setting Dante was creating with his imagery. There is a very integral connection, in my opinion, between literature and other forms of art, and I enjoy how they accompany and complement each other. The two artists that I will be analyzing in this paper come from different time periods and have different art styles but were both influenced by Dante.
William Blake, born in England into a middle-class family during the middle 18th century, was a Romantic poet and artist. Similar to Dante, Blake was heavily involved in the political tensions present and his artworks highlighted his political and religious opinions (Poetry Foundation). Although Blake focused most of his attention on his writing, it is important to consider how he used his subjective experiences and beliefs to create art to send a message. It was towards the end of his life that he was commissioned to create artwork based on the Divine Comedy, and although he died before he was able to finish, the one hundred watercolor paintings became part of his best works. An important piece that connects to Dante is The Lovers Whirlwind from the fifth canto in Inferno (Dias). Looking at Blake’s literature and personal beliefs, the painting of his canto is especially significant as he shows his criticisms of Dante’s portrayal of God. Additionally, when looking at specifically the poem Garden of Love, Blake seems to have the mindset that resisting lust was worse than succumbing, as Francesca and Paolo did. Therefore, Dante placing them in Inferno seems to be a contradiction of Blake’s own beliefs and Blake shows that in his artwork (Tate). Regardless, Blake continues with the commission, with wonderful illustrations and usage of colors in the work. Yet, it is important to consider the similarities between Dante and Blake as Blake also created his own mythological characters to present his own beliefs (Tate; Panossian).
Gustave Dore, a whole century after William Blake, a prodigious artist and wood-engraver was also involved in illustrating parts of Dante’s Inferno. Throughout his career, he was used to taking commissions to illustrate parts of famous literature such as Don Quixote and The Raven. And throughout it all, there were multiple paintings and illustrations for The Divine Comedy. Dore’s illustrations are black and white, and he employs shadows and fine detail to show a grim perspective of Dante’s journey through the Inferno. His paintings establish what many people specifically envision when they think of Dante’s journey because of how much detail and horror are present in the illustrations. Dore’s illustrations heavily influenced my perception of how the various levels of Inferno were designed, specifically due to the rawness present in each illustration. One source made the claim that Dore’s illustrations “leave a powerful visual impression on the imagination” and are “obviously and inherently symbolic” (Jackel). Similar to Blake, he also had his own painting of Paola and Francesca.
The two painters employed vastly different art styles and therefore the interpretations of their works can be seen separately. It is important to note that Dore made multiple illustrations of Paolo and Francesca di Rimini, the one I will be focusing on is considered his most recognized one from his collection. Compared to Blake, Dore has a certain rawness that evokes emotions such as fear and horror in me. There are multiple suffering and angry faces alongside sinners who are drawn like ants in comparison translating to the audience’s feeling of insignificance in the face of greater powers (God, Satan, etc.) On the other hand, Blake uses many colors, characteristic of the watercolor technique which give it a more fantasy or mythological impression. Blake focuses on a single subject for the audience’s eyes to be drawn towards and adds texture around them. His use of dimensions for humans or beasts, while not completely accurate, is easily able to portray the attributes given to the characters. For example, Virgil is designed sort of as a guide or savior, which is exemplified through the posture in the paintings.
Focusing on the particular two paintings presented of Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, they exemplify the distinct types of painters these two are. The most noticeable difference between the two works is Blake’s use of color. Dore’s gloomy black and white creates a much more somber and grimy tone to the illustration than Blake’s does. Blake’s addition of watercolor invokes fewer upsetting emotions and allows for more pity towards the characters in the painting. Additionally, the composition of the painting and how the two painters went about showing the characters differed immensely. Dore’s focus was only on Paolo and Francesca da Rimini, placing the other characters in the shadows and background. In comparison, Paolo and Francesca de Rimini in Blake’s paintings are hidden in the back whirlwind as though they are just another soul in the second circle of Hell. Both paintings employ the same directionality, showing how these characters are moving with the winds present in the imagery of canto 5. Blake certainly does a better job at the whirlwind aspect of the second circle by setting up circular motions of the souls and having their posture follow the waves slightly. One way I would describe it is as though they were freely swimming through the air. Dore’s background characters have a much more compact effect as though they were slamming into each other and squished due to the force of harsh winds. This one characteristic of the painting can display the very differing interpretations of the canto. These differences lead to differing interpretations in the modern day. Compared to Blake, Dore appeals to the Christian outlook on Dante’s work, with many sources praising Dore’s depiction of the sins present. Concerning the Francesca and Paolo illustration, one Christian and conservative professor discusses how Dore’s raw and, literally, naked depiction of Paolo and Francesca di Rimini shows the guilt towards their actions and goes on to connect acting on one’s desire to slavery (Hren). Although the article makes a couple of comparisons to abortion and marriage which I personally do not agree with, it enforces the type of audience Dore appeals to as another Christian source was also praising Dore for his clear inclusion of light and dark elements are highlighting the presences of sins distinct to the presence of saints (Huber). As shown, Dore made sure to clearly portray his religious side in many of his paintings and that makes sense for someone who even did some work illustrating images from the Bible (Just; “The Vale of Tears”).
Continuing the analysis of the paintings, another point of focus is the two painters’ representations of Dante and Virgil. In Dore’s paintings, Dante looks upon the couple with what seems to be horror while Virgil takes the job of shielding Dante, synonymous with the job of Virgil in Inferno. However, Blake has a very differing illustration of Dante, with him lying on the ground as Virgil stands above him and the couple are in a whirlwind from Dante’s body. The highlighting of different aspects of the fifth canto let in a great deal of what the painters thought about the canto. Blake chose to focus on Dante’s fainting (that was due to the sorrow and pity he felt for the couple) while Gore’s painting focused on Dante’s initial and overall reaction. Blake’s theological viewpoint focuses on forgiveness and opposes Dante’s punishment-based afterlife for Inferno (Georgia) and his choice to show the part of Dante that sympathized with the souls in Inferno is a good portrayal of his different values. Additionally, analysis of why Francesca seems to be pulled back from Paolo and towards the lying Dante seems to claim that Blake decided to highlight Dante’s “phallic urges” and his value as a man for Francesca (Tambling). This is an interesting view on the painting, which I am not sure if I agree with as in the canto itself there did not seem to be a mention of Dante’s sexual desires, but it could have been Blake’s own interpretations of the work.
Finally, the last part of Dore’s painting that I want to explore is the bleeding hole on Francesca’s chest. This connects with the earlier passage of Dore focusing on the guilt and sin present in the canto since, I believe, the addition of this feature connects with Dante’s own belief on why they belong in the second circle of Inferno. Dante made specific choices on who ended up where, for example making the decision to have Virgil and many other non-Christians he admires remain in Limbo for the rest of their afterlife. For Paolo and Francesca, he still ended up condemning them to a life of sin and hence, although Dante’s character felt pity for them, Dante the author still believes they belong there. Gore mirrors that perspective with his artistry.
I believe the main difference between the two painters is their different focuses. Where Gore paints a realistic picture, directly taking the imagery from Dante and creating a visual representation of his words, Blake explores his differing the theological viewpoints and includes his own symbolic artistic style. The fifth canto, focused on Paolo and Francesca di Rimini, highlights Dante’s beliefs on sin and punishment which both artists interpreted differently. Both artists, though dissimilar, bring life to Dante’s work, acting as complementary literary works, and allow audiences to further their interpretations of his work.