Gustave Doré Decorative Objects

Gustave Doré (1832-1883) illustrations and Dante's Divine Comedy have become so intimately connected that even today, nearly 150 years after their initial publication, the artist's rendering of the poet's text still determines our vision of the Commedia. Planned by Doré as early as 1855, the Dante illustrations were the first in a series he referred to as the "chefs-d'oeuvre de la littérature." In addition to Dante, Doré list of illustrated great works included Homer, Ossian, Byron, Goethe, Racine, and Corneille. The placement of Dante's Commedia at the top of this list reflects the poet's popularity within mainstream French culture by the 1850s. While France's initial interest in Dante was confined to the episodes of Paolo and Francesca (Inf.5) and Ugolino (Inf.33), the 19th century saw an expansion of interest in Dante's work which resulted in numerous translations of the Commedia into French, critical studies,newspapers, and specialized journals, and over 200 works of painting and sculpture between 1800-1930. Doré's choice of Dante's Inferno as the first of his proposed series of illustrated masterpieces of literature reflects the extent to which Dante had attained popular appeal in France by the 1860s. La Divina Commedia...