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William Blake: The drawings for Dante's Divine Comedy
Imagination Ablaze
William Blake's spectacular illustrations to The Divine Comedy
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 a close 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.
About the series:
Bibliotheca Universalis-- Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!
Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.
Bookworm's delight -- never bore, always excite!
William Blake's spectacular illustrations to The Divine Comedy
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 a close 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.
About the series:
Bibliotheca Universalis-- Compact cultural companions celebrating the eclectic TASCHEN universe at an unbeatable, democratic price!
Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, the name TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible, open-minded publishing. Bibliotheca Universalis brings together nearly 100 of our all-time favorite titles in a neat new format so you can curate your own affordable library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia.
Bookworm's delight -- never bore, always excite!
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1827
27 people are currently reading
424 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
February 18, 2016
--Dante's Afterworld between classical myth and Christian theology, by Maria Antonietta Terzoli
--Two masters of "visible parlare": Dante and Blake, by Sebastian Schütze
--Catalogue of the Drawings
--Catalogue of the Line-Engravings
The Architecture of Hell - Ruth Gesser
The Architecture of Purgatory - Ruth Gesser
The Architecture of Paradise - Ruth Gesser
Notes
Bibliography
The Authors
Photo Credits
Imprint
--Two masters of "visible parlare": Dante and Blake, by Sebastian Schütze
--Catalogue of the Drawings
--Catalogue of the Line-Engravings
The Architecture of Hell - Ruth Gesser
The Architecture of Purgatory - Ruth Gesser
The Architecture of Paradise - Ruth Gesser
Notes
Bibliography
The Authors
Photo Credits
Imprint
September 3, 2012
I can't help it: I keep comparing William Blake's illustrations to Gustave Doré's. It is hard to believe that both of them illustrated the same book, Dante's Divine Comedy, so different are their approaches. Doré's style is aristocratic and refined. William Blake's is rough and plebeian. Doré always manages to give us the impression that his illustrations are just the way that Dante would have wanted them to be. Blake is continuously struggling to find his own voice in his work.
We are presented here with 102 plates at different stages of development. Even when the illustrations are supposedly finished, they bear the marks of the artist's grueling struggle to find some meaning in them. Before you know it, you are engaged in the same struggle.
First, looking at the pictures becomes a dialogue between the artist and yourself. You can even see yourself looking at the pictures. Why else would the characters in Blake's illustrations almost always have the same observant expression on their faces? It is your own dispassionate facial expression that you are seeing. Then, the subject matter fades away until, eventually, your dialogue with the artist turns into a monologue. You are left with the sense of facing a void.
What you do see is the colours (which Doré did not use). The pictures you thought were pictures of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven turn into pictures of your inner landscape, into icons that mark a resolute break with the conventions of icons, into mirrors where your inner self can dictate the rules. You don't have to listen to anybody else than yourself. Blake is acting only as a guide, just as Virgil was Dante's guide. His advice is simple. Just look and listen.
We are presented here with 102 plates at different stages of development. Even when the illustrations are supposedly finished, they bear the marks of the artist's grueling struggle to find some meaning in them. Before you know it, you are engaged in the same struggle.
First, looking at the pictures becomes a dialogue between the artist and yourself. You can even see yourself looking at the pictures. Why else would the characters in Blake's illustrations almost always have the same observant expression on their faces? It is your own dispassionate facial expression that you are seeing. Then, the subject matter fades away until, eventually, your dialogue with the artist turns into a monologue. You are left with the sense of facing a void.
What you do see is the colours (which Doré did not use). The pictures you thought were pictures of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven turn into pictures of your inner landscape, into icons that mark a resolute break with the conventions of icons, into mirrors where your inner self can dictate the rules. You don't have to listen to anybody else than yourself. Blake is acting only as a guide, just as Virgil was Dante's guide. His advice is simple. Just look and listen.
December 16, 2020
I've always loved Blake's paintings, and in fact, that's what I associated him with the most, more than his poetry. I was delighted to see this in a bookshop, which illustrates Blake's paintings for the Divine Comedy. I didn't know Blake did paintings for it, and I haven't even read Divine Comedy. However, I've always had a fascination for these classical texts that have shaped our culture, so it has always been a wish of mine to read Dante at some point in the future.
For those unfamiliar with Divine Comedy, it's an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri in the 14th century, one of the greatest works of world literature. If you ever heard about "levels" of hell, this is where that idea comes from. You might have seen it represented in Botticelli's painting "Plan of the Inferno".
The story describes Dante traveling through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The book offers a little introduction about the author, his work, and how both are placed historically. It also gives a small summary of the whole Divine Comedy narrative, which was very helpful since I only knew the very basics. This is, of course, highly simplified, but good enough to have an overview upon which to place Blake's paintings into context.
It also gives an introduction about Blake as well, both in general as a painter and more specifically the paintings he did for Divine Comedy. Blake was obsessed with the work and learned Italian from scratch at the age of 70 just for the purpose of reading the text in its original form. He received a commission to illustrate Divine Comedy from Linnell, part of a group called the "ancients", who admired Blake as a new prophet of new art while most of his peers dismissed him. He ended up producing 102 drawings during 1824-1827.
These introductions take roughly 60 pages, which I found perfect. Aftewards, the book moves on to catalog of the drawings, and this occupies the rest of the book for the following 400 pages. The structure of how the drawings are presented is incredibly well done and always consistent. You have a high-quality, full-page plate on the left page, with text about that plate on the right page. It first has a direct quote from Divine Comedy from what the drawing is about, followed by a short commentary about what is happening in the story at the time, plus commentary about the art element of the painting itself. I found the commentary very insightful and yet easy to read, often just taking a dozen lines or so.
I really enjoyed this structure and I don't think it could have been more perfect. The images are incredibly high-quality, and the amount of commentary was ideal. Enough that I felt like I understood the image and put it in context regarding the overall work, but also not so much that allowed me to still feel like it was mostly enjoying Blake's genius as if I was visiting a museum and checking each painting one by one. In addition to the structure mentioned, with some paintings (and a fair bit of them), instead of moving on to the following one as you turn the page, it had an additional plate but this time covering the entire 2 pages. Often the previous image of only one page was cropped into the most significant part of the image, which allowed even more detail and also avoids unnecessary repetition just for the sake of a greater size.
It's one of the books I most enjoyed reading. Despite its size, it reads very quickly as it's mostly filled with paintings. I really appreciated how much text and commentary there was, which allowed me to learn a fair bit about Divine Comedy. When I finally read it, it will likely be much easier to read, and I will be able to understand more of it.
There were a couple of things I disliked about the book. The first is that most images are from Hell. Not many from Purgatory, and very little from Paradise. Second, there was a lot of unfinished paintings, which I could never enjoy nearly as much as the finished ones. I guess it makes sense to include them to make it a full compilation of Blake's work, but there is a huge difference between artworks. Although both technically aren't the fault of the authors of the book as there was nothing they could have done about it, nevertheless was slightly disappointing.
The book itself, physically, is also incredibly beautiful and high-quality. It's of my favorite books I own, and I predict part of the ones that will hold up the best in many years. It's also surprisingly cheap for its quality. You can get it for about 25€, and I would easily pay much more for it. If you like Blake's paintings or Dante's work, I highly recommend it. It's incredibly well done in every possible aspect.
For those unfamiliar with Divine Comedy, it's an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri in the 14th century, one of the greatest works of world literature. If you ever heard about "levels" of hell, this is where that idea comes from. You might have seen it represented in Botticelli's painting "Plan of the Inferno".
The story describes Dante traveling through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The book offers a little introduction about the author, his work, and how both are placed historically. It also gives a small summary of the whole Divine Comedy narrative, which was very helpful since I only knew the very basics. This is, of course, highly simplified, but good enough to have an overview upon which to place Blake's paintings into context.
It also gives an introduction about Blake as well, both in general as a painter and more specifically the paintings he did for Divine Comedy. Blake was obsessed with the work and learned Italian from scratch at the age of 70 just for the purpose of reading the text in its original form. He received a commission to illustrate Divine Comedy from Linnell, part of a group called the "ancients", who admired Blake as a new prophet of new art while most of his peers dismissed him. He ended up producing 102 drawings during 1824-1827.
These introductions take roughly 60 pages, which I found perfect. Aftewards, the book moves on to catalog of the drawings, and this occupies the rest of the book for the following 400 pages. The structure of how the drawings are presented is incredibly well done and always consistent. You have a high-quality, full-page plate on the left page, with text about that plate on the right page. It first has a direct quote from Divine Comedy from what the drawing is about, followed by a short commentary about what is happening in the story at the time, plus commentary about the art element of the painting itself. I found the commentary very insightful and yet easy to read, often just taking a dozen lines or so.
I really enjoyed this structure and I don't think it could have been more perfect. The images are incredibly high-quality, and the amount of commentary was ideal. Enough that I felt like I understood the image and put it in context regarding the overall work, but also not so much that allowed me to still feel like it was mostly enjoying Blake's genius as if I was visiting a museum and checking each painting one by one. In addition to the structure mentioned, with some paintings (and a fair bit of them), instead of moving on to the following one as you turn the page, it had an additional plate but this time covering the entire 2 pages. Often the previous image of only one page was cropped into the most significant part of the image, which allowed even more detail and also avoids unnecessary repetition just for the sake of a greater size.
It's one of the books I most enjoyed reading. Despite its size, it reads very quickly as it's mostly filled with paintings. I really appreciated how much text and commentary there was, which allowed me to learn a fair bit about Divine Comedy. When I finally read it, it will likely be much easier to read, and I will be able to understand more of it.
There were a couple of things I disliked about the book. The first is that most images are from Hell. Not many from Purgatory, and very little from Paradise. Second, there was a lot of unfinished paintings, which I could never enjoy nearly as much as the finished ones. I guess it makes sense to include them to make it a full compilation of Blake's work, but there is a huge difference between artworks. Although both technically aren't the fault of the authors of the book as there was nothing they could have done about it, nevertheless was slightly disappointing.
The book itself, physically, is also incredibly beautiful and high-quality. It's of my favorite books I own, and I predict part of the ones that will hold up the best in many years. It's also surprisingly cheap for its quality. You can get it for about 25€, and I would easily pay much more for it. If you like Blake's paintings or Dante's work, I highly recommend it. It's incredibly well done in every possible aspect.
October 24, 2023
The inimitable Blake produced more than 100 beautiful illustrations, from rough sketches to fully developed engravings, for Dante's 'commedia'; completely in his own style, very different from the hyperrealistic style of Dore The Doré Illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy.
May 8, 2021
William Blake's final art project was a beautiful series of watercolors for an edition of Dante's Divine Comedy. The color reproductions are vibrant, and you can see the influence he had on Salvador Dali. All I have left to add is that if you want to read The Divine Comedy it won't be included here. These are just the plates Blake created for this particular edition. Highly recommended.
November 7, 2019
Beautifully produced.
May 2, 2013
William Blake's illustrations for Dante's masterpiece. I must admit, not many of the images are even remotely similar to the mental images I got while reading the book. That is not necessarily a bad thing, though. I like Blake's vision, and some of the images are great pieces of art. This book is not a complete illustration, where only a few illustrations are complete, and many being mere sketches. Blake's intention was certainly to finish a great deal more illustrations, but the incompleteness of the work also makes it fascinating. You get a glimpse of the creative process of one of the great masters of the 19th century.
Read
November 27, 2011From "Publisher's Note" page v
"William Blake's final artistic project is a stunning collection of illustrations for Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, the epic poem DIVINIA COMMEDIA. Born nearly 500 years after Dante, the English poet and artist nevertheless succeeds in bridging the centuries to provide a unique perspective on the medieval classic. It is a fascinating marriage, as Dante, although harshly critical of the Church and its adherents, was nevertheless a believer, whereas Blake was renowned for his iconoclastic stance against organized religion."
"William Blake's final artistic project is a stunning collection of illustrations for Dante Alighieri's masterpiece, the epic poem DIVINIA COMMEDIA. Born nearly 500 years after Dante, the English poet and artist nevertheless succeeds in bridging the centuries to provide a unique perspective on the medieval classic. It is a fascinating marriage, as Dante, although harshly critical of the Church and its adherents, was nevertheless a believer, whereas Blake was renowned for his iconoclastic stance against organized religion."
June 4, 2016
Beautiful large format prints on quality paper.
December 6, 2017
In love with this book...
July 11, 2020
Blake the artist is often overlooked by his poetry. This book was a gift from my sister. She asked me what I wanted and I saw this book listed. I enjoyed it very much. I have only two complaints: 1) it should have been bigger. I had expected a larger book that would show, and 2) I found the introductory sections rather boring. The text that went with the illustrations was very nice and made me appreciate the Comedy all the more.
I had thought that the Comedy would be included in the book. It is not. Only certain cense were illustrated by Blake. The commentator puts them into context. The commentator especially helped me see how the text in the last two section was visualized. I had read them before but to me they are not as visual as the scenes in Hell. I suspect that has more to do with me than Dante.
I had thought that the Comedy would be included in the book. It is not. Only certain cense were illustrated by Blake. The commentator puts them into context. The commentator especially helped me see how the text in the last two section was visualized. I had read them before but to me they are not as visual as the scenes in Hell. I suspect that has more to do with me than Dante.
December 23, 2022
William Blake transformed more than a hundred sketches and watercolors, and some copperplate engravings, into a distinctive interpretation of Dante's immortal trilogy. Also, that Blake worked in poverty and obscurity during his life, and despite everything, today, he is recognized as one of the most sublime artists and poets in the English-speaking world.
It should be mentioned that the commission came from his patron John Linnell, who asked him to do the illustrations for the Book of Job, in 1825, and paid him 130 pounds sterling for the whole work. The drawings were not published at the time.
The expressive line and vivid colors of William Blake's watercolors permeate the scenes and their subjects, endowing them with pathos, terror and pity, which at the same time provoke a mixture of luminous joy.
It should be mentioned that the commission came from his patron John Linnell, who asked him to do the illustrations for the Book of Job, in 1825, and paid him 130 pounds sterling for the whole work. The drawings were not published at the time.
The expressive line and vivid colors of William Blake's watercolors permeate the scenes and their subjects, endowing them with pathos, terror and pity, which at the same time provoke a mixture of luminous joy.
March 14, 2022
Nuevamente, es raro calificar libros de este tipo para mí, además nunca había tenido uno de esta editorial, porque no es un libro que da la d principio a fin y ya, sino, siendo de arte, se vuelve a ver unas imágenes, se adelanta, se salta, se relee, etc. La edición es preciosa, la calidad de las hojas e impresión, así como el empastado. Y los textos introductorios me parecen muy adecuados.
December 26, 2024
Blake is an exceptional illustrator, and his visual works should be more widely known. The Divine Comedy illustrations are especially interesting since some of them are incomplete. Looking through this book gives a sense of the different stages of his process. I highly highly recommend these plates, along with his illuminated books.
October 13, 2022
William Blake masterpiece Dante's was amazing in art and literature is concern. This book is definitely a keeper for years to come. His poetry captures the very essence of what literature was meant to be.
January 21, 2021
wonderful and beautiful pages - with nice and eloquent descriptions for each illustration.
April 15, 2021
Beautifully produced and wonderful work.
December 6, 2021
Solo lo he leído visualmente y maravilloso me parece.
April 2, 2024
Questa raccolta mi fa venire la sindrome di Stendhal.
August 15, 2019
I read through the ebook of this Dover edition of Blake's plates and sketches for a commissioned edition of Dante's work, which was not finished before Blake's death. While the reproductions are very faint, stripping the work of the power it might have had in a book plate printing, Blake's philosophy of knowledge through excess is fully visible. The engravings are primarily of hell, and although Dante envisioned the famed as writhing and screaming in eternal agony, drenched in gore, and eating each other, Blake portrays them as transformed by bliss and bathed in wisdom' bright light.
June 5, 2011
I got this to enhance my studies of The Divine Comedy. The watercolors are very nice. Not all of the artwork is complete, however. Many are sketches, and even some of the color paintings have an unfinished feel to them. For more completed artwork of this great work, see Gustave Dore's illustrations.
December 15, 2018
Two generous, illustrated essays totaling about 60 pages and commentary on each of the drawings makes this one of my favorite Taschen releases.
Although I don't much care for some of Blake's coloring in this set, he always impresses me. A fan should be very pleased.
If you like art books as whole, this is still worth it. I love a collection that gives you a fair amount to read with the images.
As usual, the cover and paper make it a pleasure to peruse.
Although I don't much care for some of Blake's coloring in this set, he always impresses me. A fan should be very pleased.
If you like art books as whole, this is still worth it. I love a collection that gives you a fair amount to read with the images.
As usual, the cover and paper make it a pleasure to peruse.
October 5, 2009
Sort of a loan, must read quickly. Brought this back upon request for one of my classmates in my printmaking class.
EDIT:
Seeping through the images, I can see how Blake's views of a God of love and forgiveness differ vastly from Dante's punishing Catholicism. I think that is why I like Blake so much.
EDIT:
Seeping through the images, I can see how Blake's views of a God of love and forgiveness differ vastly from Dante's punishing Catholicism. I think that is why I like Blake so much.
April 11, 2012
Interesting illustrations created 500 years after Dante wrote his comedy.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews