Blake and Dante

Silvia De Santis

Blake's Dantesque illustrations are the result of dialectics involving and questioning the very premises? political, theological and poetic? of the Commedia. Yet this very issue did not prevent the artist from rendering, at times more efficaciously and more profoundly than any other illustrator, Dante's unique atmospheres. Blake's approach thus enables us to revisit the Commedia from unaccustomed, privileged angles: on the one hand, we have great visionary poetry reflecting on itself; and on the other, the image that translates the poetic word,?transforming? it into a new creation able to shed an original light on important aspects of Dante's work and thoughts.