Visual Arts Archives - Page 2 of 2

Paolo & Francesca paintings by Derek Overfield (2020)

November 25, 2021 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“Immortalized by Dante’s Inferno and Rodin’s, The Kiss, the historical couple of Paolo and Francesca have moved audiences for over 700 years. The young couple fell in love while reading the romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, but their affair was cut short in tragedy. This collection contains 3 paintings, the first of the couple embracing. The second and third capture a moment – perhaps before their embrace, perhaps following their discovery. Twelve preparatory drawings in charcoal also accompany the painting of the embracing couple.” –from the portfolio of Derek Overfield

For more information about Derek Overfield and their work, view their portfolio here.

Dante Traveling Exhibition, Athens (2021)

November 21, 2021 By Sephora Affa, FSU '24

“Athens is the second European city after Belgrade to host the show, titled ‘Dante Ipermoderno– Dante illustrated in the world, 1983-2021.’ After the Greek capital, the exhibition will travel to Prague, Moscow, London, and Madrid.

“Five internationally known illustrators took it upon themselves to depict the shocking images described by Dante in his monumental work The Divine Comedy: Paolo Barbieri, Monica Baisner, Domenico Palantino, Tom Phillips, and Emiliano Ponzi.” [. . .] —Ekathimerini, January 6, 2021

See more information about the art exhibit here.

Relatedly, see our posts about Paolo Barbieri here and Tom Phillips here.

Dante 700 Mural and Art Exhibit in Addis Abeba (2021)

November 19, 2021 By Sephora Affa, FSU '24

“The mural occupies an area of over 170 square meters and is divided into three connected sections in which Italian and Ethiopian artists interpret, in a modern key, the Supreme Poet and his life with the works Dante The Ethiopian (group ‘Addis Street Art’), The Divine Technic (Nicola Varesco), and Inside (Van Orton Design – Marco and Stefano Schiavon).

[. . .]

“The project, promoted with the patronage and support of the National Committee for the celebrations of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s death, is the result of the work of numerous illustrators, street artists, graphic designers, comic and graphic novel authors, very different from each other in terms of style (which ranges from tempera painting and geometric design to the use of 3D software), and in the approach to the reinterpretation of Dante’s iconography, but all of great impact.” [. . .] —Italiana

Along with Dante’s 700th anniversary, this event commemorates the XXI week of the Italian Language in the world. Learn more through the Italian Cultural Institute of Addis Abeba, linked here.

Learn more about the exhibit here.

Imago Dantis

November 16, 2021 By Hannah Raisner, FSU '25

“I have a vast collection of publications related to the illustrations of Divine Comedy that extends to the most varied artistic expressions from the 18th C to date and beyond, along the latitudes of the poet’s visionary grip in the the world and its variousgeographic-cultural areas.

The work that I present here is the figurative result of my visual study of the iconographic themes of the first part of Dante’s poem, Hell, through the aforementioned tradition and illustrative plurality. The 34 songs of Hell are represented with a mixed technique: manual, marker + coloured ink, and digital, with insertions of manipulated images. An original version of collaging then. This blog is together [a] presentation of the illustrations and understanding of their creative process.

Hence, in each canto-cover you will find the following in-sight information:

My illustration of each canto/song

A choice of the main verses from the poem in ‘cloud’ format

My interpretative notes of the main figurative themes

A very small selection of the many sources that inspired me.” –Contributor Maurizio Coglia

The digital collages can be viewed at Coglia’s website imagodantisinferno.com

Valley of the Painted Stones Murals in Sicily, Silvio Benedetto (1992)

November 10, 2021 By Harrison Betz, FSU '25

“La Valle Delle Pietre Dipinte, or the Valley of Painted Stones (also known as the Park of the Divine Comedy), is a series of 110 painted marble slabs that depict events and people from Dante’s Divine Comedy. Artist and sculptor Silvio Benedetto began this endeavor in 1992. Benedetto, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1938, moved to Italy in 1964 and completed other well-known works there, such as the murals for Cinque Terre National Park. He has been called the ‘last of the great mural artists.’

“La Valle delle Pietre Dipinte is located in Campobello di Licata, Sicily. The park is a physical experience as well as an artistic one. Visitors walk through it, going from Hell to Purgatory to Paradise. The journey begins with a downward path into Hell, which features such recognized figures as La Lupa, Beatrice, Francesca and Paolo, and Ulysses. The viewer goes up from Hell to Purgatory, finally ascending the hill to Paradise, where a mural of the Virgin Mary can be seen. The last mural of the series says, ‘E quindi uscimmo a riveder le stelle’ or ‘And then we went out to see the stars.'” –Contributor Abigail Williams

See also a collection of photographs of the murals at the Valley of Painted Stones here.

For more information about Campobello di Licata and the Valley of Painted Stones, click here.

Contributed by Abigail Williams (University of Arkansas, ’22)

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