The Divine Comedy is the poetic masterpiece by Dante Allighieri. It is comprised of three parts: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. The work traces the allegorical journey of the author through the realms of the afterlife.
Presented here is a gallery of illustrations by Gustave Dore depicting various scenes from all three books of the Divine Comedy.
We think that the dramatic black and white drawings are especially suited in mood for the depiction of the dreary realms of hell and purgatory, though perhaps the tone of the illustrations fails to convey the majestic light of the heavenly realms. Click here to view:
This is the text of Dante's Inferno (Part of the Divine Comedy), with illustrations by Gustav Doré.
This is the text of Dante's Pugratory (Part of the Divine Comedy), with illustrations by Gustav Doré.
This is the text of Dante's Paradise (Part of the Divine Comedy), with illustrations by Gustav Doré.
By definition, it should be impossible to improve on perfection. Most critics consider Dante's Divine Comedy a perfect masterpiece of world literature. But Dore's illustrations of the Divine Comedy succeed in doing the impossible: they add a visual component to the story which makes the Divine Comedy even more impactful and vivid.
