Divine Comedy Illustrated Collection

Author: Dante Alighieri (Italian original) / Gustave Doré (French illustration)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1999-08-01
Features: Lu Xun loved reading and collecting books throughout his life. The Divine Comedy Illustrated was compiled and edited based on Lu Xun's collection. Since the issue of The Divine Comedy editions, illustrations have emerged alongside it. It is widely recognized in the art world that Gustave Doré is the best illustrator of the past few centuries. To commemorate the 600th anniversary of Dante's birth, Doré created illustrations for The Inferno of The Divine Comedy in 1861, achieving immense success and unprecedented influence in Europe. By the time of the 1865 anniversary, The Purgatorio and The Paradiso were also completed successively. Doré preserved the original woodcut plates and destroyed all zinc plates. He personally preferred the original woodcuts. Doré's interpretation of this grand project, his striking imagination, his rare ease and freedom in handling subjects, his realistic, vivid, and allegorical expression—accurately captured Dante's emotional tremors in his works, making them so true and lively. The expressiveness of Dante's poetry and Doré's illustrations is comparable. The difference lies in that figures in Christian medieval times possess admirable consistency, while modern people tend to expose themselves on the stage of self-artifice and generally pursue the greatest benefits.