Art of the Inferno

Links: http://www.dantesinfernoart.com/  this is the art by Dino Di Durante in 2012
http://www.ratbags.com/rsoles/artworks/dali/divinecomedy.htm  Dali in 1951
http://www.worldofdante.org/gallery_dore.html  Gustave Dore in the 1860s

Entry: After seeing some artwork inspired by Inferno of Dante's Divine Comedy, I began to look up more modern renditions of Dante's work. The amount of art inspired by the comedy is tremendous, but it speaks to Dante's influence that the works are continually reproduced by author's every single year.
    I was most surprised to find a 60 piece collection of painting by Dino Di Durante done only last year. The illustrations started as a comic book and later progressed into an animated film. These media agree with Durante's target adolescent audience. He neither wanted to replicate the dark lithographs of Gustave Dore nor the abstract illustrations by Salvador Dali. Instead he wanted to make an accurate yet colorful rendition of the comedy. Below you will see the differences between the different styles.


The Avarice and Prodigal by Dore.

 The avarice and Prodigal as interpreted by Dali.


The Avarice by Durante 2012.


     Personally, I found the most interesting illustrations to be Dali's. They represent the feeling of sin and guilt and hell that the Inferno is based upon. However, I thought the Dore lithographs were detailed and complex enough to give the same effect if you were familiar with the scenes depicted. Despite being the most recent, Durante's paintings are disappointing as a tool to understand the Comedy. Granted, he was aiming towards a younger audience, but I felt that the illustrations were over simplified and not as grotesque as the comedy's descriptions are themselves. It is not useful to "dumb" something down to get people to understand it; a good artist or teacher should be able to elevate students to a higher level of understanding.