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Dali, Salvador (1904 – 1989). The Divine Comedy. - Purgatory 32. (1963)
Description:
Coloured woodcut, paper
32,8 x 26,3
Lower n the centre - Dali
In the early 1950's, the Italian government commissioned Dali to illustrate a special commemorative edition of The Divine Comedy in honour of the upcoming 700th anniversary of Dante's birth. Dali was selected despite the controversy at the time over the choice of a Spanish artist to illustrate the work of Italy's greatest poet. What fascinated Dali most about Dante was his "angelic vision of being" and the "cosmic" side of God, invisible to humans, but reflected on the face of angels. Dali's illustrations apply his own extraordinary sense of analytic realism to the supernatural visions described by Dante. Dali's interpretation of Dante's work emphasises the many influences in the artist's life: from Giorgio de Chirico to the Dadaist movement, with traces of modern psychology, philosophy and aesthetics. The 100 illustrations were created originally as watercolours, and later turned into wood engravings.
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