“I created a one-of-a-kind ring inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Paradiso, Canto 33, The Final Vision. I’ve studied The Divine Comedy in both English and Italian and have always loved the way the poem combines so many seemingly disparate elements: mythology, realism, love, judgment, geometry, and astronomy to name a few. In Canto 33, Dante faces God and sees ‘the Love that moves the sun and the other stars.’ It is the moment when his life on earth intersects with his life outside of this earth.” –Donna Distefano
The ring, which features pieces of actual meteorite, was featured in the exhibit “Out of this World: Jewelry in the Space Age” at the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, Georgia (November 7, 2020 – October 24, 2021). In Style magazine did a piece on it, too (see image below).
See also our previous post on Distefano’s “Elixir of Love” ring.
Contributed by Donna Distefano
Liam Ó Broin’s Commedia Lithographs (2021)
Irish printmaker Liam Ó Broin completed a series of 100 lithographs based on Dante’s Commedia in honor of the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death in 2021. The lithographs are currently available to view in an online exhibit sponsored by the Centre for Dante Studies in Ireland (CDSI).
“Dante’s search on his journey was to go to the depths of the human imagination. In that journey he reveals himself as one who has a deep understanding of the nature, and importantly, the necessity of the human scheme of community. He also reveals, however flawed the mechanism from a political aspect was at the time, a very clear understanding of the way a city state, and by extension a nation, needs to be structured as an entity for good government – its core must be social justice. Here we have Dante the poet, Christian, philosopher and politician – fused into one.” –From the Artist’s Statement.
Read more about Liam Ó Broin’s career at the artist’s personal website.
View our previous post on Ó Broin’s 2012 Inferno exhibition at Graphic Studio (Dublin) here.
We extend our great thanks to the artist for permission to reprint the image above.
Tagged with: 2021, 700th anniversary, Community, Cork, Illustrations, Inferno, Ireland, Journeys, Justice, Lithographs, Paradiso, Politics, Purgatorio, Social Commentary, Usurers