
Blake did not have time to complete the cycle of illustrations to Dante’s Divine Comedy. He began work on it in 1824, at the request of John Linnel. We got about a hundred of Blake’s drawings relating to this cycle, and only a few of them were painted by the author’s watercolor. Seven drawings, the artist still managed to translate to engraving plates, but never fully completed one of them.
Dante’s poem so excited Blake that he independently learned Italian – to better understand all the semantic and emotional overtones of the text. The English translation, in his opinion, “robbed” the “Divine Comedy”, flickering with the subtlest shades of meaning. Here are the following illustrations: “Ugolino with his sons in prison”, “Antey lowering Dante and Virgil in the last circle of hell” and “Dante and Beatrice.”
Ugolino avec ses fils en prison – Ulyam Blake
Ugolino con sus hijos en el calabozo – Hives Blake
Dante and Beatrice by William Blake
The Stoning of Achan by Stones by William Blake
Beatrice turns to Dante from the chariot by William Blake
Adam before the court of God by Ulam Blake
When the stars sang by William Blake
Dante et Beatrice – William Blake