For the first time in Florence, illustrations of the Comedy by Mattotti, Glaser and Moebius

From Oct. 25 to Nov. 25, 2021, theAccademia di Belle Arti in Florence will celebrate the 700th anniversary of Dante ’s death with an exhibition that brings for the first time to the Tuscan capital the works of three celebrated contemporary illustrators, Lorenzo Mattotti, Milton Glaser and Jean Giraud(Moebius). In 1999 these artists published for the Nuages gallery a special illustrated Divine Comedy, which now the same Milanese gallery wanted to reprint in a celebratory edition and in co-edition with the Academy of Fine Arts, at the same time exhibiting some of the original illustrations belonging to this precious edition.

The latter will be exhibited on the occasion of the exhibition Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso. Divine Illustrations, set up inside the Accademia’s Sala Ghiberti: the exhibition consists of a central core, where it will be possible to admire the original covers of the three Dantean cantica illustrated by Mattotti, Glaser and Moebius ( Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso, respectively), as well as a selection of original color plates and other unpublished works, including preparatory drawings and engravings. About sixty illustrations created by as many Academy students, each inspired by a different canto of the Divine Comedy, will then be on display along the central courtyard portico.

The exhibition is also an opportunity to inaugurate the new course of the Academy of Fine Arts’ Sala Ghiberti. Long used as a space dedicated to teaching, from next year the Sala Ghiberti will become a space open to the city with exhibitions and artistic initiatives promoted by the Academy and other partner institutions. In recent months, the hall, which houses an original cast of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Gate of Paradise, has undergone an elaborate renovation, made possible thanks to an 80,000-euro contribution from Fondazione CR Firenze.

The exhibition is curated by lecturer Alessandro Baldanzi and Cristina Taverna of the Nuages gallery, and was also made possible thanks to the involvement of a number of private collectors.

Admission is free and free of charge and can be visited Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

On the occasion of the exhibition, it will also be possible to visit the Academy’s 19th-century library, which holds a vast collection of books on Dante’s works: volumes illustrated by masters such as Adolfo De Carolis, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, and Adolfo Wildt. Valeria Bruni, professor and art historian, together with Simonetta Luti, librarian of the Academy of Fine Arts, selected eleven titles among the most significant ones to offer the public an overview of the book heritage dedicated to the Supreme Poet. The result is an exhibition entitled Dante in the library of the Florence Academy of Fine Arts, open until Nov. 19, which looks at Dante through the lens of authors inspired by his works. Open to the public Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with free admission.

Pictured is an illustration from Paradiso by Moebius (detail).

For the first time in Florence, illustrations of the Comedy by Mattotti, Glaser and Moebius

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