An artist’s visions of hell

Written in Aug 09 by Anthony Stonehouse Tags: , , , ,

Hell has always be a source of fascination — it exists in most cultures and religions. Many artists, designers and writers take inspiration from Dante’s Divine Comedy when referencing hell in their work — in fact it’s surprising how much influence the Italian poem has had on modern culture. I’ve been exploring visual executions of The Inferno through painting and sculpture to modern interpretations in digital media. Here’s a few examples of some of the more intriguing images I’ve found.

The Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin
One of the most interesting pieces, this giant doorway exists in two versions with an interesting story explained in this great documentary. It’s also the source of many famous sculptures like The Thinker and The Kiss.

The Divine Comedy wood engravings by Salvador Dali
The Black Cherub, The waterfall of the Phlegethon and Lucifer are 3 of 100 wood engravings by Dali.

Dante and Virgil in Hell by William Adolphe Bouguereau

The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch

Unholy Communion by Wayne Barlowe
One of many images from Barlow’s Inferno.

Dante’s Inferno game from Electronic Arts
An XBox 360 and PS3 action game that although didn’t review particularly well serves as an enguaging interactive environment that lets you explore a modern twist on Dante’s Inferno. It’s almost a shame you are forced to fight it as it’s quite beautifully created purely from a visual perspective.



2 Comments »

  1. Ed Cox says:
    Mar 10 at 13:08

    Gustave Dore’s Inferno illustrations also good

    Reply
  2. Anthony Stonehouse says:
    Mar 10 at 14:13

    Ya, he’s got some really nice work. I think his illustrations of Inferno aren’t as nice as some of his darker representations from the Bible though.

    http://dore.artpassions.net/

    Reply

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Aug 09

An artist’s visions of hell

Hell has always be a source of fascination — it exists in most cultures and religions. Many artists, designers and writers take inspiration from Dante’s Divine Comedy when referencing hell in their work — in fact it’s surprising how much influence the Italian poem has had on modern culture. I’ve been exploring visual executions of […]