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On 10th June three of my personal interests - religious doctrine, graphic art and classical literature - came together in one great display at the Royal Academy of Arts, Piccadilly. It was the last day of a unique event which may never again occur, the precious artistic items having been in the keeping of museums in Berlin, split up after World War II and only now brought temporarily together in England. The exhibition was of the 92 existing drawings by Botticelli of Dante's Divine Comedy and I was so late in my hurried attendance that the superb catalogue accompanying the exhibits had all sold out by the time I came to purchase it!
Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) was one of the greatest and most sophisticated draughtsmen of Renaissance Florence. This exhibition presents the entire series of exquisite drawings created by him in the late fifteenth century to illustrate the Divine Comedy (written by Dante Alighieri nearly 200 years before). They were drawn, using a pointed tool, some being coloured and in other cases emphasised in ink. Many are so faint that they need to be viewed through a magnifying glass - which also serves to confirm the superb workmanship in every detail.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) is regarded as Italy's greatest poet. His Divine Comedy is written in the Italian language and has a most melodious and consonant quality, particularly noticeable when read aloud. The artful rhyming scheme - aba bcb cdc ... is sustained throughout the three parts. The poem traces the journey of Dante from darkness and error in the abyss to the revelation of divine light, culminating in the beatific vision of God. Botticelli follows Dante's poem closely, giving stunning visual form to the poet's journey through Inferno, the Purgatory towards Paradise. In the first two he is led by Virgil, the epitome of human knowledge, and in the last by Beatrice, his muse and inspiration. The remarkable drawings are on large sheets of parchment, each one illustrating one canto (section or chapter) of the poem. It is reputed to be the first occasion that all these drawings have been seen together since their creation over 500 years ago and provides a unique opportunity for study and insightful thought.
The exhibition is in three great rooms: Hall 1: Inferno. At the entrance a coloured chart of Hell is displayed. It is intricate and many of its tiny scenes copy the larger drawings. Magnification is necessary to inspect the detail. Hell is a funnel shaped pit reaching down to the centre of the earth. It was formed by the fall of the rebel angels from heaven, the greatest of whom was Lucifer (Satan). In the Middle Ages it was believed that Satan had once been an angel in heaven but his pride, self-love and envy, led him to challenge the power of God. In his terrible fall he is seen imprisoned in an icy, silent lake for ever. At the start of the poem, the poet Dante, overwhelmed by some kind of spiritual crisis in the middle of his life is wandering lost in a dark wood when he is confronted by three wild beasts. Virgil, the greatest of the Roman poets agrees to guide him through Hell and Purgatory in the hope that Dante will eventually glimpse Heaven. It is the year of the papal Jubilee of 1300. Dante was 35 years old. His journey starts on the eve of Good Friday and ends on Easter Day, thereby following Christ's descent and resurrection. Virgil (70-19BC) was born before the birth of Christ and consequently condemned to dwell in Limbo. He was believed to have foretold the birth of Christ in his fourth Eclogue. The two poets travel down through the nine levels of Hell together. On the journey they speak to damned souls, learning of their sins and the reason they were consigned to particular torments in eternity. The sinners are categorised according to the gravity of their sins, the lowest pits being for the worst sinners. Hall 2: Purgatorio. There are seven terraces after Antepurgatory to the Earthly Paradise. Antepurgatory contains the Late Repentant, the Negligent, the Excommunicated. Terrace 1: the Proud. Terrace 2: the Envious. Terrace 3: the Wrathful. Terrace 4: the Slothful. Terrace 5: the Avaricious and Prodigal. Terrace 6: the Gluttonous. Terrace 7: the Lustful. Hall 3: Paradiso. This is the goal of every Christian. The elect - those without sin go there straightaway but lesser souls must purge themselves in Purgatory. Dante called his great poem a Comedy because he believed that comedies should begin tragically and end happily. The cantica starts with the blissful ascent of Dante and Beatrice to Heaven with a last glance at the beauties of the earthly paradise. Beatrice maps out the arrangement of the heavenly spheres. The earth in the centre is surrounded by nine planets all contained within the Empyrean, outside of time and space, the dwelling place of God. Beatrice instructs, encourages and sometimes chides Dante as they rise up effortlessly through the heavens of the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Heaven of the Fixed Stars and the Primum Mobile (the Heaven of the Moving Spheres) to the throne of God in the Empyrean.
Throughout the ages the messages in the poetry and the outstanding drawings have made deep impressions on other artists. Some of William Blake's work is illustrative of the Inferno and Purgatory. TS Eliot, Seamus Heaney, Bocaccio - the list is endless of writers who have drawn sustenance from the Divine Comedy. Tchaikowsky and Puccini, amongst others have found inspiration there for their musical works. I was even astonished to learn that the celebrated and sensuous sculpture of Auguste Rodin called "The Kiss" is directly derived from the doomed lovers Paolo and Francesca, in Inferno Canto V. Botticelli's interpretations have surprisingly modern parallels. A few weeks ago I visited the Musée de la Bande Dessinée in Angoulême, France. This is the museum of the modern comic strip. The same artifice is used by Botticelli, where there are multiple displays of Dante and Virgil travelling through a circle of Hell, wherein malefactors are roasted and tormented on sand of the desert (Inferno Canto XV). A true saying that nothing is new under the sun! Rod Dawson |
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page last updated 30 SEPTEMBER 2001 |
