Friday, October 11, 2013

Dante's Effect on Art



Ever since its publication, The Divine Comedy has inspired countless artists in the renaissance and beyond. Some very notable artists such as Rodin and Botticelli were greatly inspired by Dante's vivid descriptions, especially those in Inferno. You've probably seen Rodin's most famous piece, The Thinker, but you may not know that it is actually an enlarged version of a sculpture on one of his other works, The Gates of Hell. The piece also originally contained many of his other sculptures such as The Kiss and The Three Shades. Botticelli depicted scenes from all three books, and even illustrated some of the earliest editions. Below are some pictures of their pieces.
Rodin's Gates of Hell

The Kiss
The Thinker
Mappa Dell Inferno
Satan and Traitors to Benefactors

3 comments:

Miranda Martinez said...

Out of the pieces you showed I absolutely love Rodin's Gate's of Hell and The Thinker. I've seen The Thinker in person, and I found the material as well as the composition of the piece to be quite interesting. It's simplistic, yet elegant.

The Gate's of Hell are by far my favorite. You can see The Thinker in the middle of the doorway as well as those who attempt to climb out of Hell and those who fall back down. Chaos pretty much encompasses the entire piece. It completely contrasts Ghiberti's famous "Gates of Paradise" on the Duomo of Florence. I could honestly sit and analyze every detail of this piece. Great photos Joey!

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

Wow. "The Gates of Hell" is such an intricate and impressive piece. I had to look it up. It took french artist Auguste Rodin 37 years to make the doors, from 1880-1917 (when he died). It was a defining project in his career. The door is made out of bronze and depicts figures from the Old Testament. Now, the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia possesses the first casting.