Rome, Dante's Inferno according to Salvador Dalí on display.

In the 1950s, to mark the 700th anniversary of Dante’s birth, the Italian government commissioned Salvador Dalí, the Master of Surrealism, to illustrate The Divine Comedy. The artist produced an illustrated masterpiece of the 20th century: 102 watercolors, first exhibited in Rome in 1954. The exhibition in Italy generated controversy that led Dali to re-present the collection in 1960 at the Musée Gallièra in Paris. The exhibition was a huge success, so much so that it prompted Joseph Foret to initiate the project of transforming the watercolors into woodcuts. Under the direct supervision of the genius of the Artist, the 3500 hand-carved wooden blocks were converted into printing matrices and the 35 colors of each plate were imprinted in progressive fashion; this technique allows, in addition to preserving all the chromatic elements, the addition of the most intense color overlays.

Today, that story lives again in an exhibition, titled Dalí’s Inferno: in the renovated spaces of La Galleria delle Arti, a historic cultural haunt in Rome’s San Lorenzo district, from Tuesday, March 22 to Saturday, April 9, the 34 woodcuts recounting the fascinating iconographic journey intoInferno, the first of the three realms of the afterlife described by Dante, are on display. The exhibition layout follows the one originally intended by Dalí, which does not respect the sequential order of the cantos as per the original work. In each woodcut, a verse or triplet of the canto is illustrated, shown in captions that flank the panels. A visual journey that masterfully interprets the language of the Florentine poet and leads the viewer through dreamlike atmospheres and evocative colors directly into Dante’s Inferno.

The event is part of the Celebrations of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death and is organized in collaboration with FUIS - Federazione Unitaria Italiana Scrittori, Dante 2021 - National Committee for the Celebration of 700 Years and FEDERINTERMEDIA.

For all information, you can call +39 375.7223987.

Pictured: Salvador Dali, Chant 27 - Un diable logicien

Rome, Dante's Inferno according to Salvador Dalí on display.

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.