Dante Today

Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture

“Judgement” card for The Literary Tarot

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tarot-card-judgement-dante-virgil-river-styx“Faylita Hicks chose to pair the card Judgement with Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, not just for the shared themes of self-reflection, awakening, and (obviously) judgement, but to bring to mind the question: who is doing the judging? Who is absolved, who is deemed guilty, who is held above those scales entirely? Dante reaches out in very human sympathy to those eternally damned for very human flaws, while the shade of Virgil, unmoved, places a restraining hand upon his shoulder.”    —charminglyantiquated

This submission comes from a project called The Literary Tarot: see the Kickstarter page for the project here.

Contributed by Kendra Gardner, University of Kansas ’22

Inferno Pop-up Book by Massimo Missiroli, with Paolo Rambelli (2020)

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“La Divina Commedia, composta da Dante Alighieri nei primi vent’anni del XIV secolo, è universalmente ritenuta una delle più grandi opere della letteratura di tutti i tempi. Le illustrazioni per la Commedia di Gustave Dorè sono divenute un riferimento iconografico imprescindibile non solo per i lettori successivi di Dante ma per tutti coloro che hanno cercato di trasporlo sul grande schermo.

“Per la prima volta Dante e Dorè diventano ora protagonisti di un libro pop-up – cioè di ciò che è più vicino alla dinamicità del cinema pur conservando la forma base del libro – grazie all’opera di uno dei più apprezzati paper engineer a livello internazionale: Massimo Missiroli. Il cartotecnico italiano, già vincitore del Premio Andersen nel 2001 e candidato al premio Meggendorfer nel 2004, ha infatti realizzato, in collaborazione con Paolo Rambelli dell’Università di Bologna per la parte testuale, una straordinaria versione pop-up dell’Inferno Dantesco, sfruttando per ogni illustrazione una diversa tecnica di sviluppo verticale delle figure, così da rinnovare ad ogni pagina lo stupore per la capacità evocativa del capolavoro dedicato da Dorè al capolavoro di Dante.

“Un’opera unica ed originale che i collezionisti di pop-up, così come gli amanti di Dante e di Dorè non possono non possedere.”  — Project Website

See a prototype of the pop-up book on YouTube (last accessed May 24, 2020).

To help fund the project, visit the Kickstarter page (expires June 21, 2020).

Apparitions from the Inferno

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“A series of Black and White photographs produced using alternative manual processes, featuring scenes from Dante’s Divine Comedy.

[. . .]

Many of my previous works have referenced classical literature and mythology (Hamlet, Maenads, etc). The subject of this project involves creating intimate portraits of characters referenced in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Specifically, I will be illustrating a number of souls from the first book in the series: The Inferno. I have had a long standing interest in the graphic quality and descriptiveness that Dante dictates in this work, and I believe that my photographic style and choice of medium will do great justice in giving life to these characters. I greatly admire the works of the Great Illustrator/Printmaker Gustave Dore, and my favorite contemporary Artist/Printmaker Barry Moser, who have both produced amazing images inspired by Dante. In the works of the aforementioned artists, high contrast renderings of often graphic and disturbing images are manifested through their respective mediums to present a dark underworld and its inhabitants as described by Dante. My intention is to bring Dante’s characters out of the realm of illustration and breath life into them through photographic realization, thereby actualizing their spirits (in a very surreal and ethereal manner) as real people.”    –John Ransom, Kickstarter, August 3, 2013

Dustin Rosemark’s Inferno Film

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Dustin-Rosemark-Inferno-Film-Kickstarter“We’re making an independent HORROR/THRILLER hybrid, executed with hand-made PRACTICAL EFFECTS and shot entirely on 8mm & 16mm B+W FILM.

“Inferno is a contemporary adaptation of Dante’s Inferno. The film will be shot entirely on traditional motion picture film with hand-made practical effects. Inferno is the story a Dante, a man in the midst of a midlife crisis. At the beginning of the film Dante is a lost soul, unsure of himself and his future. With the help of his guide Virgil, he descends into the underworld and through each of the nine circles of Hell. Each circle represents a different mortal sin, and each circle teaches Dante a different lesson on his path to enlightenment. Along the way the pair encounter treacherous allies, villainous monsters and a number of things that aren’t quite what they seem. Ultimately Dante reaches the 9th and final circle of Hell, where me meets Lucifer and learns a lesson which will change him forever.” — Kickstarter Page for Dustin Rosemark’s Inferno

How to Cite

Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.

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