William Blake: the Drawings For Dante's Divine Comedy Xl - Maria Antonietta Terzoli (Hardcover)

"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 adeeper level, the soul's path towards salvation. In the last few years of his life, Romantic poet and artist William Blake produced 102 illustrations for Dante's masterwork, from pencil sketches to finished watercolours. 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"--Publisher's description.

Two creative masterminds and universal themes of love, guilt, revenge, and redemption come together in this exceptional edition of William Blake’s 102 illustrations for Dante’s The Divine Comedy. The XL-sized volume includes 14 fold-out spreads, two introductory essays tracing Dante’s legacy in the visual arts, and excerpts from the Commedia...

After studying in Pavia, Bologna and Geneva, Maria Antonietta Terzoli taught at the universities of Geneva and Zurich. Since 1991 she has been a professor (Ordinaria) at the University of Basel, where she is head of the department of Italian Studies. A philologist and interpreter of literary text, she specializes in Italian literature.