Overview

William Blake's series of illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy was his last major project and a summation of his religious and artistic beliefs. Blake intended to engrave this series, but it was unfinished at his death. The series includes seven partially complete engravings and 102 works in various stages of completion--some of the most beautiful pictures of his career. These pictures are not simple illustrations, but constitute a thorough reinterpretation and--in Blake's view--correction of Dante's poem. This book compares the two men's theological and artistic views and analyzes in detail the meaning of Blake's illustrations, for the first time introducing their theological and aesthetic exuberance to a modern audience.

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9780786494880

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"""Pyle clearly has an intimate knowledge of the philosophical movements contributing to Blake's romanticism, as he does with the intricacies of Blake's own mythological system and the whole of his poetic oeuvre. Indeed, the readings he offers of various works in Blake's canon are on a par with the most insightful comments he has to offer regarding Blake and Dante.""--Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly."

Pyle clearly has an intimate knowledge of the philosophical movements contributing to Blake's romanticism, as he does with the intricacies of Blake's own mythological system and the whole of his poetic oeuvre. Indeed, the readings he offers of various works in Blake's canon are on a par with the most insightful comments he has to offer regarding Blake and Dante. --<i>Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly</i>.

Author Information

Eric Pyle studied painting at Parsons School of Design and has a Ph.D. in aesthetic philosophy from Hiroshima University. For many years he has taught classes on the Divine Comedy at Hiroshima’s Peace Park, at the site of the atomic bombing. He lives in Hiroshima, Japan.

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