The '' Divine Comedy'' has been a source of inspiration for artists, musicians, and authors since its appearance in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Works are included here if they have been described by scholars as relating substantially in their structure or content to the ''Divine Comedy''. The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia) is an Italian

narrative poem Narrative poetry is a form of poetry that tells a story, often using the voices of both a narrator and characters; the entire story is usually written in metered verse. Narrative poems do not need rhyme. The poems that make up this genre may be s ...

by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. Divided into three parts: '' Inferno'' (Hell), '' Purgatorio'' (Purgatory), and '' Paradiso'' (Heaven), it is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. The poem's imaginative vision of the

afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

is representative of the medieval worldview as it had developed in the Catholic Church by the 14th century. It helped to establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written, as the standardized Italian language.

Literature

Medieval

Way-of-salvation-church-militant-triumphant-andrea-di-bonaiuto-1365

* In 1373, a little more than half a century after Dante's death, the Florentine authorities softened their attitude to him and decided to establish a department for the study of the ''Divine Comedy''.

Giovanni Boccaccio Giovanni Boccaccio (, , ; 16 June 1313 – 21 December 1375) was an Italian writer, poet, correspondent of Petrarch, and an important Renaissance humanist. Born in the town of Certaldo, he became so well known as a writer that he was somet ...

(1313–1375) was appointed to head the department in October 1373, and he sponsored its organization. In January 1374, Boccaccio wrote and delivered a series of lectures on the ''Comedy''. In addition, Boccaccio is included in the work ''Origine, vita e costumi di Dante Alighieri'', where his treatise ''Trattatello in laude di Dante'' provides a biography of Dante. *

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...

(c. 1343–1400) translated, adapted, and explicitly referred to Dante's work. ** "A Complaynt to His Lady," an early short poem, is written in terza rima, the rhyme scheme Dante invented for the ''Comedy''. ** ''

Anelida and Arcite ''Anelida and Arcite'' is a 357-line English poem by Geoffrey Chaucer. It tells the story of Anelida, queen of Armenia and her wooing by false Arcite from Thebes, Greece. Although relatively short, it is a poem with a complex structure, with a ...

'' ends with a "" by Anelida, the lover jilted by Arcite; the begins with the phrase "So thirleth with the poynt of remembraunce" and ends with "Hath thirled with the poynt of remembraunce," copied from ''Purgatory'' 12.32, "la punctura di la rimembranza." ** '' The House of Fame'', a dream vision in three books in which the narrator is guided through the heavens by an otherworldly guide, has been described as a parody of the ''Comedy''. The narrator echoes ''Inferno'' 2.32 in the poem (2.588–592). ** '' The Monk's Tale'' from ''

The Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's ''Masterpiece, ...

'' describes (in greater and more emphatic detail) the plight of

Count Ugolino Ugolino della Gherardesca (March 1289), Count of Donoratico, was an Italian nobility, nobleman, politician and naval commander. He was frequently accused of treason and features prominently in Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. Biography In the 13th cen ...

(''Inferno'', cantos 32 and 33), referring explicitly to Dante's original text in 7.2459–2462. ** The beginning of the last stanza of '' Troilus and Criseyde'' (5.1863-65) is modelled on ''Paradiso'' 12.28–30.

Early Modern

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

finds various uses for Dante, whose work he knew well: ** Milton refers to Dante's insistence on the separation of worldly and religious power in ''

Of Reformation ''Of Reformation'' is a 1641 pamphlet by John Milton, and his debut in the public arena. Its full title is ''Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England''. Background This work was followed by four others, also related to church hierar ...

'', where he cites ''Inferno'' 19.115–117. ** Beatrice's condemnation of corrupt and neglectful preachers, ''Paradiso'' 29.107–109 ("so that the wretched sheep, in ignorance, / return from pasture, having fed on wind") is translated and adapted in ''

Lycidas "Lycidas" () is a poem by John Milton, written in 1637 as a pastoral elegy. It first appeared in a 1638 collection of elegies, ''Justa Edouardo King Naufrago'', dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a friend of Milton at Cambridge who drown ...

'' 125–126, "The hungry Sheep look up, and are not fed, / But swoln with wind, and the rank mist they draw," when Milton condemns corrupt clergy.

Nineteenth century

* The title of Honoré de Balzac's work ''

La Comédie humaine LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

'' (the "Human Comedy," 1815–1848) is usually considered a conscious adaptation of Dante's. * Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who translated the ''Divine Comedy'' into English, wrote a poem titled "Mezzo Cammin" ("Halfway," 1845), alluding to the first line of the ''Comedy'', and a sonnet sequence (of six sonnets) under the title "Divina Commedia" (1867); these were published as flyleaves to his translation. * Karl Marx uses a paraphrase of ''Purgatory'' (V, 13) to conclude the preface to the first edition of '' Das Kapital'' (1867), as a kind of motto: "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti" ("follow your own road, and let the people talk"). *

Lesya Ukrainka Lesya Ukrainka ( uk, Леся Українка ; born Larysa Petrivna Kosach, uk, Лариса Петрівна Косач; – ) was one of Ukrainian literature's foremost writers, best known for her poems and plays. She was also an active ...

's poem "The Forgotten Shadow" (1898) is a feminist reinterpretation of Dante and Beatrice. The ''forgotten shadow'' in the poem is Gemma Donati, Aligheri's wife.

Twentieth century

* In E. M. Forster's novel ''

Where Angels Fear to Tread ''Where Angels Fear to Tread'' (1905) is a novel by E. M. Forster. The title comes from a line in Alexander Pope's ''An Essay on Criticism'': "For fools rush in where angels fear to tread". The BBC adapted the novel for television in 1966 as ...

'' (1905), the character of Gino Carella, upon first introducing himself, quotes the first lines of ''Inferno'' (the novel includes several references to Dante's ''

La Vita Nuova ''La Vita Nuova'' (; Italian for "The New Life") or ''Vita Nova'' (Latin title) is a text by Dante Alighieri published in 1294. It is an expression of the medieval genre of courtly love in a prosimetrum style, a combination of both prose and ve ...

'' as well). *

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

cites '' Inferno'', XXVII, 61–66, as an epigraph to "

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock", commonly known as "Prufrock", is the first professionally published poem by American-born British poet T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). Eliot began writing "Prufrock" in February 1910, and it was first publishe ...

" (1915). Eliot cites heavily from and alludes to Dante in '' Prufrock and Other Observations'' (1917), ''Ara vus prec'' (1920), and '' The Waste Land'' (1922). * Begun in 1916,

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

's ''

Cantos ''The Cantos'' by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a ''canto''. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date ...

'' take the ''Comedy'' as a model. *

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

in his non-fiction essay "Dante... Bruno. Vico.. Joyce", published in '' Our Exagmination Round His Factification for Incamination of Work in Progress'' (1929), compares Joyce's reassessments of the conventions of the English language to Dante's departure from Latin and synthesis of Italian dialects in the ''Divine Comedy''. * Turkish poet

Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı (born Hüseyin Cahit; October 4, 1910 – October 13, 1956) was a Turkish poet and author. Biography Tarancı belonged to a well known clan family of Diyarbekir (present day: Diyarbakır) like his father Pirinççi ...

's famous poem "Otuz Beş Yaş" (lit. "Thirty Five Years") is beginning with the verses which contains a citation of ''Inferno'': "''Yaş otuz beş! Yolun yarısı eder / Dante gibi ortasındayız ömrün''" ("Age thirty five! It is half of way / We are in the middle of life like Dante") won the Best Turkish Poem Prize in 1946. *

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was an Italian chemist, partisan, writer, and Jewish Holocaust survivor. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works ...

cites Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' in the chapter called "Canto of Ulysses" in his novel ''Se questo è un uomo'' (''

If This Is a Man ''If This Is a Man'' ( it, Se questo è un uomo ; United States title: ''Survival in Auschwitz'') is a memoir by Italians, Italian History of the Jews in Italy, Jewish writer Primo Levi, first published in 1947. It describes his arrest as a memb ...

'') (1947), published in the United States as ''Survival in Auschwitz'', and in other parts of this book; the fires of Hell are compared to the "real threat of the fires of the crematorium." *

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.

paralleled Dante's descent into hell with Geoffrey Firmin's descent into alcoholism in his epic novel '' Under the Volcano'' (1947). In contrast to the original, Lowry's character explicitly refuses grace and "chooses hell," though Firmin does have a Dr. Vigil as a guide (and his brother, Hugh Firmin, quotes the ''Comedy'' from memory in ch. 6). * Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel

The First Circle ''In the First Circle'' (russian: link=no, italics=yes, В круге первом, V kruge pervom; also published as ''The First Circle'') is a novel by Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, released in 1968. A more complete version of the boo ...

(1968) takes its title from the Inferno. Set in a special Gulag for scientists, it parallels Dante's First Circle (Limbo) where virtuous philosophers of antiquity are separated from God and humanity but not punished in any other way. * The seventh and last chapter from

Leopoldo Marechal Leopoldo Marechal (June 11, 1900 – June 26, 1970) was one of the most important Argentine writers of the twentieth century. Biographical notes Born in Buenos Aires into a family of French and Spanish descent, Marechal became a primary sch ...

's first novel,

Adam Buenosayres ''Adam Buenosayres'' () is a 1948 novel by the Argentine writer Leopoldo Marechal. The story takes place in Buenos Aires in the 1920s, and follows a vanguard writer who goes through a metaphysical struggle during three days. The book is a humorous ...

, is a parody of the Inferno, entitled "Journey To The Dark City Of Cacodelphia", wherein the titular character meets several of his literary contemporaries (including his guide).* Jorge Luis Borges, who wrote extensively about Dante, included two short texts in his ''

Dreamtigers ''Dreamtigers'' (''El Hacedor'', "The Maker", 1960), is a collection of poems, short essays, and literary sketches by the Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. Divided fairly evenly between prose and verse, the collection examines the limitations o ...

'' (''El Hacedor'', 1960): "Paradiso, XXXI, 108" and "Inferno, I, 32," which paraphrase and comment on Dante's lines. * Poet

Derek Walcott Sir Derek Alton Walcott (23 January 1930 – 17 March 2017) was a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. He received the 1992 Nobel Prize in Literature. His works include the Homeric epic poem ''Omeros'' (1990), which many critics view "as Walcot ...

, in 1949, published ''Epitaph for the Young: XII Cantos'', which he later acknowledged as influenced by Dante. * James Merrill published his ''

Divine Comedies {{italic title ''Divine Comedies'' is the seventh book of poetry by James Merrill (1926–1995). Published in 1976 (see 1976 in poetry), the volume includes " Lost in Translation" and all of ''The Book of Ephraim''. ''The Book of Ephraim'' is t ...

'', a collection of poetry, in 1976; a selection in that volume, "The Book of Ephraim", consists "of conversations held, via the Ouija board, with dead friends and spirits in 'another world.'" * Authors Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle wrote a modern sequel to the ''Inferno'', '' Inferno'' (1976), in which a science fiction author dies during a fan convention and finds himself in Hell, where

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

functions as his guide. They wrote a subsequent sequel to their own work, '' Escape from Hell'' (2009). *

Gloria Naylor Gloria Naylor (January 25, 1950 – September 28, 2016) was an American novelist, known for novels including '' The Women of Brewster Place'' (1982)'', Linden Hills'' (1985) and '' Mama Day'' (1988)''.'' Early life and education Naylor was born ...

's ''

Linden Hills Linden Hills is a neighborhood in the Southwest community of Minneapolis on a hill overlooking Lake Harriet. It was one of the last areas to be developed in the City of Minneapolis. A majority of the land around where neighborhood is today was ...

'' (1985) uses Dante's ''Inferno'' as a model for the trek made by two young black poets who spend the days before Christmas doing odd jobs in an affluent African American community. The young men soon discover the price paid by the inhabitants of Linden Hills for pursuing the American dream. * Author

Monique Wittig Monique Wittig (; July 13, 1935 – January 3, 2003) was a French author, philosopher and feminist theorist who wrote about abolition of the sex-class system and coined the phrase "heterosexual contract". Her seminal work is titled ''The Straigh ...

's ''Virgile, Non'' (published in English as ''Across the Acheron'', 1985) is a

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

–

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

parody of the ''Divine Comedy'' set in the utopia/dystopia of second-wave feminism. *

Mark E. Rogers Mark E. Rogers (April 19, 1952 – February 2, 2014) was an American author and illustrator. Biography Rogers, while a student at Pt. Pleasant Beach High School, wrote a short novel, ''The Runestone'', which has since been adapted into Willard C ...

used the structure of Dante's hell in his 1998 comedic novel ''Samurai Cat Goes to Hell'' (the last in the '' Samurai Cat'' series), and includes the trope of a gate to hell with an "abandon hope" inscription.

Twenty-first century

* Irish poet Seamus Heaney published a poem, "A Dream of Solstice", on the front page of the '' Irish Times'' (18 January 2000) that begins with a translation o
''Paradiso'' 33.58–61
as "Like somebody who sees things when he's dreaming / And after the dream lives with the aftermath / Of what he felt, no other trace remaining, / So I live now". * Nick Tosches's ''In The Hand of Dante'' (2002) weaves a contemporary tale about the finding of an original manuscript of the ''Divine Comedy'' with an imagined account of Dante's years composing the work. * ''Inferno'' by Peter Weiss (written in 1964, published in 2003) is a play inspired by the ''Comedy'', the first part of a planned trilogy. * ''

The Dante Club ''The Dante Club'' is a mystery novel by Matthew Pearl and his debut work, set amidst a series of murders in the American Civil War era. It also concerns a club of poets, including such historical figures as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wen ...

'' is a 2003 novel by Matthew Pearl that tells the story of various American poets translating ''The Divine Comedy'' in post- civil war Boston, who must also investigate murders being committed based on the punishments in the text, due to their desire to protect Dante's reputation and the fact that only they have the necessary expertise to understand the murderer's motivations. *

Óscar Esquivias Óscar Esquivias (born 28 June 1972 in Burgos, Castile and León, Spain) is a Spanish short-story writer, poet and novelist. Biography He studied at the University of Burgos. He was director of the literature magazine ''Calamar, revista de cre ...

in his trilogy of novels ''Inquietud en el Paraíso'' (2005), ''La ciudad del Gran Rey'' (2006) and ''Viene la noche'' (2007) shows his personal vision of Dante's '' Divine Comedy''. * In the novel '' The Tenth Circle'' (2006) by

Jodi Picoult Jodi Lynn Picoult () is an American writer. Picoult has published 28 novels, accompanying short stories, and has also written several issues of Wonder Woman. Approximately 40 million copies of her books are in print worldwide, translated into 34 ...

, the main character's comic strip, ''The Tenth Circle'', is based on the ''Inferno'' * Dante himself is a character in ''The Master of Verona'' (2007), a novel by David Blixt that combines the people of Dante's time with the characters of Shakespeare's Italian plays. * S.A. Alenthony's novel ''The Infernova'' is a parody of the ''Inferno'' as seen from an atheist's perspective, with Mark Twain acting as the guide.

Visual arts

Sculpture

Zürich - Kunsthaus - Rodin's Höllentor IMG 7384 ShiftN

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

's sculptural group '' The Gates of Hell'' draws heavily on the ''Inferno''. The component sculpture, ''Paolo and Francesca'', represents

Francesca da Rimini Francesca da Rimini or Francesca da Polenta (died between 1283 and 1286) was a medieval noblewoman of Ravenna, who was murdered by her husband, Giovanni Malatesta, upon his discovery of her affair with his brother, Paolo Malatesta. She was a co ...

and

Paolo Malatesta Paolo Malatesta (; – 1285), also known as il Bello ('the Beautiful'), was the third son of Malatesta da Verucchio, lord of Rimini. He is best known for the story of his affair with Francesca da Polenta, portrayed by Dante in a famous episode ...

, whom Dante meets in Canto 5. The version of this sculpture known as '' The Kiss'' shows the book that Paolo and Francesca were reading. Other component sculptures include ''

Ugolino Ugolino is an Italian masculine given name that is a diminutive form of Ugo. It may also refer to: Artists and musicians * Ugolino di Nerio (1280?–1349), Italian painter active in Siena and Florence * Ugolino di Tedice (died after 1277), Italian ...

and his children'' (Canto 33) and ''The Shades'', who originally pointed to the phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'entrate" ("Abandon all hope, ye who enter here") from Canto 3. Sculptures of ''Grief'' and ''Despair'' cannot be assigned to particular sections of the ''Inferno'', but are in keeping with the overall theme. The famous component sculpture '' The Thinker'', near the top of the gate, and also produced as an independent work, may represent Dante himself. *

Timothy Schmalz Timothy Schmalz (born in 1969) is a Canadian sculptor based out of St. Jacobs, Ontario, Canada. He focuses on religious figures and also has many public pieces. Schmalz is best known for his '' Homeless Jesus'' that he created in reaction to the ...

created a series of 100 sculptures, one for each canto, on the 700th anniversary of the date of Dante’s death.

Illustrations

Giovanni di Paolo Giovanni di Paolo di Grazia (''c.'' 1403–1482) was an Italian painter, working primarily in Siena, becoming a prolific painter and illustrator of manuscripts, including Dante's texts. He was one of the most important painters of the 15th cent ...

illuminated Dante's ''Paradiso'' with 61 miniature tempera paintings in the 1440s. * Sandro Botticelli made the most famous set of illustrations during the Renaissance for a manuscript of the ''Divine Comedy'' commissioned by Lorenzo Pierfrancesco de' Medici; Botticelli also designed a series of illustrations for the 1481 edition of the poem. * Stradanus prepared a series of illustrations of ''Inferno''. * A commentary by ''La Comedia di Dante Alighieri con la nova esposizione'' written by

Alessandro Vellutello Alessandro Vellutello (born 1473) was a Lucca, Lucchese writer, poet, and scholar active in Venice in the first half of the sixteenth century. Life Born in Lucca, Vellutello moved to Venice permanently in 1525, after fleeing from Milan due to the ...

and printed in 1544 by Francesco Marcolini, was illustrated with 87 engravings, possibly by Giovanni Britto. *

John Flaxman John Flaxman (6 July 1755 – 7 December 1826) was a British sculptor and draughtsman, and a leading figure in British and European Neoclassicism. Early in his career, he worked as a modeller for Josiah Wedgwood's pottery. He spent several yea ...

's set of one hundred and eleven illustrations were influential across Europe on artists such as Goya and

Ingres Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres ( , ; 29 August 1780 – 14 January 1867) was a French Neoclassicism, Neoclassical Painting, painter. Ingres was profoundly influenced by past artistic traditions and aspired to become the guardian of academic ...

, because of their radically minimalist style. * William Blake planned and executed several watercolour illustrations to the ''Divine Comedy'', including '' The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides''. Though he did not finish the series before his death in 1827, they offer a powerful visual interpretation of the poem. * Gustave Doré made the most famous illustrations in the 19th century; the plates were drawn in 1857, and published in 1860 with

Henry Francis Cary The Reverend Henry Francis Cary (6 December 1772 – 14 August 1844) was a British nationality, British author and translator, best known for his blank verse translation of ''The Divine Comedy'' of Dante.Richard Garnett (1887). "wikisource:Di ...

's translation. *

Franz von Bayros Franz von Bayros (28 May 1866 – 3 April 1924) was an Austrian commercial artist, illustrator, and painter, best known for his controversial ''Tales at the Dressing Table'' portfolio. He belonged to the Decadent movement in art, often util ...

illustrated a 1921 edition in colour. * Salvador Dalí made a series of prints for the ''Comedy'' in 1950–51. * British artist Tom Phillips illustrated his own translation of the ''Inferno'', published in 1985, with four illustrations per canto. File:1K002578 Divine Comedy Giovanni di paolo.jpg, ''Paradiso'': Dante and Beatrice meet Folco of Marseille, who denounces corrupt churchmen.

, 1444–1450 File:Sandro Botticelli - Paradiso, Canto IX.jpg, ''Paradiso'', Canto IX. Sandro Botticelli, 1485–1490 File:Stradano Inferno Canto 06.jpg, ''Inferno'', Canto VI. Dante and Virgil meet Cerberus. Stradanus, 1587 File:Gli arroncigliò le impegolate.jpg, ''Gli arroncigliò le impegolate'', ''Inferno'', Canto XXII.

, 1793 File:The Wood of the Self-Murderers.jpg, '' The Wood of the Self-Murderers: The Harpies and the Suicides''. William Blake, 1824–1827

Painting

* Eugène Delacroix made his name with ''

The Barque of Dante ''The Barque of Dante'' (), also ''Dante and Virgil in Hell'' (''Dante et Virgile aux enfers''), is the first major painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix, and is a work signalling the shift in the character of narrative painting, from ...

'' (1822), a painting depicting Dante and Virgil crossing the river

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

. * Joseph Anton Koch illustrated Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' and in the period 1824–1829 painted the four frescoes in the Dante Room of Casa Massimo. * William-Adolphe Bouguereau, the prolific 19th-century academic artist, painted ''Dante And Virgil In Hell'' in 1850. * Dante Gabriel Rossetti, a Pre-Raphaelite, made '' several paintings of the ''Divine Comedy'', including ''Dante's Vision of Rachel and Leah'' (1855, for ''Purgatorio'' XXVII), his largest painting '' Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice'' (1871), and '' Beata Beatrix'' (1872). * Henry Holiday is best known for his 1884 painting '' Dante and Beatrice''. *

Graba' Ignace De Graeve (Ghent, 24 September 1940 – Bruges, 17 January 2016) was a Belgian artist, who also used the name Graba. He created mainly paintings and jewellery. Biography Graba' enjoyed a very eclectic education first in history, follow ...

made a cycle ''La Divina Commedia'' consisting of 111 paintings in 2003 exhibited in the Art Hall Sint-Pietersabdij in Ghent. File:Joseph Anton Koch, inferno, 1825-28, 23 dante e virgilio.jpg, ''Dante and Virgil in the Inferno''. Fresco in Casa Massimo, Joseph Anton Koch, 1825-1828 File:Eugène Delacroix - The Barque of Dante.jpg, ''

''. Eugène Delacroix, 1822 File:Dante Gabriel Rossetti - Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice (1871).jpg, '' Dante's Dream at the Time of the Death of Beatrice'', Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1871 File:Henry Holiday - Dante meets Beatrice.jpg, '' Dante and Beatrice''. Henry Holiday, 1884

Architecture

* The Danteum is an unbuilt monument designed by the Italian modernist architect

Giuseppe Terragni Giuseppe Terragni (; 18 April 1904 – 19 July 1943) was an Italian architect who worked primarily under the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini and pioneered the Italian modern movement under the rubric of Rationalism. His most famous work is the C ...

at the behest of

's fascist dictatorship. * The

Palacio Barolo Palacio Barolo is a landmark office building, located at 1370 Avenida de Mayo, in the neighborhood of Montserrat, Buenos Aires, Argentina. It stood as Buenos Aires' tallest building for more than a decade until the construction of the Kavanagh Bui ...

in Buenos Aires, completed in 1923, was designed in accordance with the cosmology of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', motivated by Italian architect

Mario Palanti Mario Palanti (September 20, 1885 – September 4, 1978) was an Italian architect who designed important buildings in the capital cities of both Argentina and Uruguay. Life and career Born in 1885 in Milan, Italy, the brother of painter Gius ...

's admiration for Dante.

Performing arts

Dance

* In 2021, the Royal Opera House put on ''The Dante Project'', choreographed by

Wayne McGregor Wayne McGregor, CBE (born 12 March 1970) is a multi award-winning British choreographer and director. He is the Artistic Director of Studio Wayne McGregor and Resident Choreographer of The Royal Ballet. McGregor was appointed Commander of the ...

to new music composed and conducted by Thomas Adès, with set and costumes by

Tacita Dean Tacita Charlotte Dean CBE, RA (born 1965) is a British / German visual artist who works primarily in film. She was a nominee for the Turner Prize in 1998, won the Hugo Boss Prize in 2006, and was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 2008. S ...

. It was danced by The Royal Ballet, led by its principal dancer

Edward Watson Edward Watson may refer to: * Edward Watson (died 1617), MP for Stamford *Edward Watson (dancer) Edward Watson MBE (born 21 May 1976) is a British ballet dancer. He is a principal dancer and coach with the Royal Ballet in London. Early years E ...

as Dante, in his final appearance after 20 years working with and interpreting McGregor. The music was performed live by an orchestra of 75 musicians. Sarah Crompton called the work "bold, beautiful, emotional and utterly engaging". The dance is in three sections. "Inferno" shows Dante's journey to hell, guided by Virgil, in "remarkably free and inventive" choreography, "rich in feeling". "Purgatorio" shows Dante meeting two incarnations of his young self, and three of the woman he loves,

Beatrice Beatrice may refer to: * Beatrice (given name) Places In the United States * Beatrice, Alabama, a town * Beatrice, Humboldt County, California, a locality * Beatrice, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Beatrice, Indiana, an unincorporated ...

. Watson dances with the living Beatrice (Francesca Hayward) "in lovely, poetic flow", and then with the heavenly Beatrice (Sarah Lamb) "all unfolding limbs and ethereal gestures". "Paradiso" has Dante in heaven with the dancers skittering about the stage all in white, in what Crompton calls a mood "of abstracted joy, deep but dazzling".

Opera

* In

Claudio Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...

's 1607 opera '' L'Orfeo'', the title character is bombarded with the famous line "Lasciate ogni speranza voi ch'entrate" as he attempts to enter the underworld. Numerous mainly 19th century operas treat the story of

, many of them including those by Pellico (1818), Strepponi (1823), Carlini,

Mercadante Mercadante is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Aloízio Mercadante (born 1954), Brazilian economist and politician *Saverio Mercadante Giuseppe Saverio Raffaele Mercadante (baptised 17 September 179517 December 1870) was an I ...

, Quilici, Generali, Staffa, Manna, Fournier, Tamburini, Borgatta,

Morlacchi Morlacchi is a family name of Italian origin. It might indicate an ultimate family origin connected with the Morlachs, a Balkan ethnic group which had considerable interaction with Italians (particularly those from the Republic of Venice). It ma ...

, Papparlardo, Nordal, Maglioni, Bellini, DeVasinis, Meiners (1841), Cannetti, Brancaccio, Rolland, Ruggieri, Pinelli, Franchini, Meiners (again, this time in 1860), Gilson, Sescewich, Boullard, Marcarini, Moscuzza, Goetz, Cagnoni, Thomas, Impallomeni, Gilson, Nápravník, Rachmaninov (in 1906), Leoni,

Zandonai Riccardo Zandonai (28 May 1883 – 5 June 1944) was an Italian composer. Biography Zandonai was born in Borgo Sacco, Rovereto, then part of Austria-Hungary. As a young man, he showed such an aptitude for music that he entered the Pesaro Conserv ...

(1914, based on the 1901 play by Gabriele D'Annunzio), and Henried (in 1920) all having that same title.

Classical music

By 1995, the ''Divine Comedy'' had been set to music over 120 times; Gioacchino Rossini created two such settings. Only 8 of the settings are of the complete ''Commedia'', "the most famous" being Liszt's symphony; others have composed music for some of Dante's characters, while yet others have set passages of the ''Commedia'' to music. *

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's '' Symphony to Dante's Divina Commedia'' (completed 1856) has two movements: "Inferno" and "Purgatorio." A concluding "Magnificat" is included at the end of the "Purgatorio" movement and replaces the planned third movement, which was to be called "Paradiso" (Liszt was dissuaded by

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

from his original plan). Liszt also composed a '' Dante Sonata'' (started 1837, completed 1849). *

Pyotr Ilich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

's 1876 ''

'' (subtitled "Symphonic Fantasy After Dante") is a symphonic poem based on an episode in the fifth canto of the ''Inferno''. * Henry Barraud's cantata for five voices and 15 instruments, ''La divine comédie'', based on Dante's text, was composed in 1972. * Dutch composer Louis Andriessen's 2008 film opera in five parts ''La Commedia'' incorporates texts from

Vondel Joost van den Vondel (; 17 November 1587 – 5 February 1679) was a Dutch poet, writer and playwright. He is considered the most prominent Dutch poet and playwright of the 17th century. His plays are the ones from that period that are still most ...

and the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

, in addition to ''The Divine Comedy''. The five parts are "The City of Dis, or The Ship of Fools", "Racconto dall'Inferno", "Lucifer", "The Garden of Delights", and "Luce Etterna". * Laudi alla Vergine Maria is Movement 3, for women's voices, of Giuseppe Verdi's Quattro Pezzi Sacri (Four Sacred Pieces, 1888). The text is from the opening lines of Canto 33 of ''Paradiso''.

Popular music

F. M. Einheit Frank-Martin Strauß, better known as F.M. Einheit and also known as Mufti, (born 18 December 1958, in Dortmund) is an industrial music, industrial and electronic music, electronic musician and actor from Germany. While primarily known for his p ...

of Einstürzende Neubauten and

Andreas Ammer Andreas ( el, Ἀνδρέας) is a name usually given to males in Austria, Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, Armenia, Estonia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Finland, Flanders, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, and Indonesia. The name ...

collaborated on an experimental recording called ''Radio Inferno'', a radio play adaptation of the ''Comedy''. * On his 1992 album ''Façanhas'', Brazilian musician Arrigo Barnabé set the first 48 lines of the '' Inferno'' (translated to Portuguese by the famous poet

Augusto de Campos Augusto de Campos (born 14 February 1931, São Paulo) is a Brazilian writer who (with his brother Haroldo de Campos) was a founder of the Concrete poetry movement in Brazil. He is also a translator, music critic and visual artist. Work In 1952 ...

) to music. * Tangerine Dream has released albums setting all the three parts of ''The Divine Comedy'' to music: '' Inferno'' is a recording of a live performance at the St Marien zu Bernau Cathedral in 2001, and '' Purgatorio'' and ''Paradiso'' are studio albums from 2004 and 2006 respectively. * German

Dark Electro Electro-industrial is a music genre that emerged from industrial music in the early 1980s. While EBM (electronic body music) has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial tends to have a grittier, complex and layered sound wi ...

band

yelworC yelworC was an electro-industrial band from Germany. The group was formed in 1987 by Peter Devin and Oliver Büttner (a.k.a. Dominik van Reich). Their name is derived from the name of Aleister Crowley, and their music reflects themes of dark m ...

has made two albums of a trilogy based on the three

cantica A canticle (from the Latin ''canticulum'', a diminutive of ''canticum'', "song") is a hymn, psalm or other Christian song of praise with lyrics usually taken from biblical or holy texts. Canticles are used in Christian liturgy. Catholic Church ...

s of the Divine Comedy, ''Trinity'' and ''Icolation''. * Australian goth-electro band the Tenth Stage has a self-titled track (2006) that describes the singer's descent past the nine stages of Dante's poem to a 10th stage of Hell. * Technical death metal guitarist Fredrik Thordendal (from the Swedish Death metal band Meshuggah) used quotes from the Divine Comedy in the song "Dante's Wild Inferno" from his solo album ''

Sol Niger Within ''Sol Niger Within'' is the first release by Fredrik Thordendal's Special Defects, a side project of Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal. The album was originally released in 1997 on the Ultimate Audio Entertainment label. The album was remix ...

''. * The song "Canto IV (Limbo)" from Progressive music group

Discipline Discipline refers to rule following behavior, to regulate, order, control and authority. It may also refer to punishment. Discipline is used to create habits, routines, and automatic mechanisms such as blind obedience. It may be inflicted on ot ...

's album '' Unfolded Like Staircase'' describes the sorrow of those souls who never knew a deity. * Italian progressive rock band

Metamorfosi Metamorfosi ( el, Μεταμόρφωση, Metamórfosi, transfiguration; before 1957: Koukouvaounes ( el, link=no, Κουκουβάουνες, Koukouváounes) is a suburb in the northern part of the Athens agglomeration, Greece, and a municipalit ...

has released two

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

s based on the ''Divine Comedy'', ''Inferno'' (in 1972) and ''Paradiso'' (2004). * Metal band Iced Earth's album '' Burnt Offerings'' (1995) contains the epic song " Dante's Inferno", over 16 minutes long. * Zao refer to the ''Divine Comedy'' on their 1999 album ''

Liberate Te Ex Inferis ''Liberate Te Ex Inferis'' is the fourth studio album by American metalcore band Zao. It is considered by many to be their most experimental and darkest album. It was released on Solid State/ Tooth & Nail. With the album came the addition of ba ...

'', covering the first five circles of the ''Inferno''. * Punk singer

Mike Watt Michael David Watt (born December 20, 1957) is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. Watt co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo ...

's third solo album, '' The Secondman's Middle Stand'' (2004), is a concept album that derives its structure from ''The Divine Comedy''. * Thrash metal band Sepultura's tenth album, '' Dante XXI'' (2006), is based on ''The Divine Comedy''. * Professor Fate's album ''Inferno'' (2007) was inspired by the ''Comedy''. * The Finnish progressive rock magazine ''Colossus'' and

Musea Records Musea Records (slogan: ''Les classiques du futur'', French for "The classics of the future") is a French non-profit organisation, non-profit recording company founded in 1985 by Francis Grosse and Bernard Gueffier in Dombasle-sur-Meurthe, specia ...

produced three multi-disc boxsets dedicated to each of the canticas of the ''Divine Comedy'' – ''Inferno'' (2008), ''Purgatorio'' (2009) and ''Paradiso'' (2010) – with the participation of several bands such as Yesterdays, Little Tragedies,

Nathan Mahl Nathan Mahl are a Canadian progressive rock band with jazz fusion elements formed in Ottawa, Ontario. Throughout a constantly evolving lineup of rock and fusion musicians from the Ottawa and Gatineau, Quebec, Gatineau regions, keyboardist Guy LeB ...

and

Phideaux Phideaux Xavier (born Scott Riggs; January 14, 1963) is an American television director, and composer of modern technological music that he describes as 'psychedelic progressive gothic rock', who grew up near New York City but now lives in Los ...

. * Austrian gothic metal band

Dreams of Sanity Dreams of Sanity was a gothic metal band from Austria. Founded in 1991, they released three full-length albums, before disbanding in 2002. History After forming in 1991, Dreams of Sanity released two demos in 1994 and 1996. They toured Europe la ...

's album ''Komödia'' is partially based on ''The Divine Comedy''. * American post-hardcore band Alesana's fourth album, ''

A Place Where the Sun Is Silent ''A Place Where the Sun Is Silent'' is the fourth studio album by Alesana. It was released through Epitaph Records on October 18, 2011. The album was produced by Kris Crummett, who also worked on '' The Emptiness''. Being the second concept alb ...

'', is primarily based on the ''Inferno''. * Mexican death metal band Transmetal released ''El Infierno de Dante'' in 1993. The English version, ''Dante's Inferno'', was released in 1994. * British rapper and saxophonist Soweto Kinch's album ''

The Legend of Mike Smith ''The Legend of Mike Smith'' is a 2013 album by Soweto Kinch. Track listing All tracks are written by Soweto Kinch. CD2 starts from track 22. # "The Phone Call" (2:22) # "A Restless Mind" (3:32) # "The Great Commission" (0:16) # "The Dream" (7: ...

'' is based on the ''Inferno'', and includes songs named for the nine circles of hell. *American progressive metal band Symphony X's 2015 album '' Underworld'' is based on the ''Inferno''.

Radio

* ''Inferno Revisited'', a modernised interpretation of Dante written by

Peter Howell Peter Howell may refer to: *Peter Howell (musician) (born c. 1948), musician and composer *Peter Howell (actor) (1919–2015), British actor *Peter Howell (historian) (born 1941), British academic and historian *Peter Howell (psychologist) Pete ...

, was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 17 April 1983. * Between March and April 2014, the BBC adapted ''The Divine Comedy'' for Radio 4, starring

Blake Ritson Blake Adam Ritson (born 14 January 1978) is an English actor and director. Early life Blake was born on 14, June, 1978 in London and attended the Dolphin School in Reading, Berkshire until 1993, before going to St Paul's School in West Londo ...

and

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in ...

playing younger and older versions of Dante.

Film

* The 1911 silent film '' L'Inferno'' was directed by Giuseppe de Liguoro, starring

Salvatore Papa Salvatore Papa (born 26 November 1990) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Gelbison. Club career Born in Cosenza, Calabria, Papa made his league debut for Serie C2 team Rende on 14 January 2007 as substitute. At the e ...

. It was released on DVD in 2004, with a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. * The 1924 silent film '' Dante's Inferno'', directed by Henry Otto, features the 1911 film, '' L'Inferno''; the section on the inferno is reduced to a ten-minute segment. * The 1935

motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

'' Dante's Inferno'', directed by

Harry Lachman Harry B. Lachman (June 29, 1886 – March 19, 1975) was an American artist, set designer, and film director. He was born in La Salle, Illinois on June 29, 1886. Lachman was educated at the University of Michigan before becoming a magazine and bo ...

, written by Philip Klein and starring Spencer Tracy, is about a fairground attraction based on ''Inferno''. The film features a 10-minute fantasy sequence visualizing Dante's ''Inferno''. * Salo4

The 1975 Pier Paolo Pasolini film '' Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom'' is set in four segments inspired by Dante's ''Divine Comedy'': the Anteinferno, the Circle of Manias, the Circle of Shit and the Circle of Blood. * Stan Brakhage's eight-minute hand-painted film, ''

The Dante Quartet ''The Dante Quartet'' is an experimental short film by Stan Brakhage, completed in 1987. The film was inspired by Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', and took six years to produce.

'' (1987), is inspired by the '' Divine Comedy''. * Peter Greenaway adapted Cantos I to VIII for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

as '' A TV Dante'' (1987–1990). * Krzysztof Kieślowski planned to create a new trilogy inspired by Dante's ''The Divine Comedy'' after finishing ''

The Three Colors Trilogy The ''Three Colours'' trilogy (french: Trois couleurs, pl, Trzy kolory) is the collective title of three Psychological drama (subgenre), psychological drama films directed by Krzysztof Kieślowski: ''Three Colours: Blue'' (1993), ''Three Colour ...

'' (1993–1994). This intention, however, was abandoned after his death in 1996 until Tom Tykwer decided to shoot the film ''

Heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the belie ...

'' in 2002, using Kieslowski's original screenplay. In 2005, Bosnian director Danis Tanović directed ''

Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...

'' () based on Kieslowski's screenplay sketches. The screenplay was completed by

Krzysztof Piesiewicz Krzysztof Marek Piesiewicz (; born 25 October 1945 in Warsaw, Poland) is a Polish lawyer, screenwriter, and politician. From 1991 to 1993 and from 1997 to 2011 he was a member of Polish Senate. He was the head of the Ruch Społeczny (RS) or S ...

, Kieslowski's screenwriter. * The

'' Se7en'' (1995) stars

Brad Pitt William Bradley Pitt (born December 18, 1963) is an American actor and film producer. He is the recipient of various accolades, including two Academy Awards, a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...

and

Morgan Freeman Morgan Freeman (born June 1, 1937) is an American actor, director, and narrator. He is known for his distinctive deep voice and various roles in a wide variety of film genres. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, he has received ...

as two detectives who investigate a series of ritualistic murders inspired by the seven deadly sins. The film makes many references to Dante's ''Divine Comedy''. *

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is a British film director and producer. Directing, among others, science fiction films, his work is known for its atmospheric and highly concentrated visual style. Scott has received many accolades thr ...

's 2001 film ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

'' has Hannibal Lecter as a medievalist lecturing on Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', and to some extent echoing the work in his murderous methods. *

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French-Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as Fran� ...

's 2004 film ''

Notre musique ''Notre musique'' (English: ''Our Music'') is a 2004 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard. The film reflects on violence, morality, and the representation of violence in film, and touches especially on past colonialism and the current Israeli–Pal ...

'' is structured in three parts, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise respectively, alluding to the ''Divine Comedy''. * The film '' Dante's Inferno'' (2007) is based on

Sandow Birk Sandow Birk (born 1962 in Detroit) is an American visual artist from Los Angeles whose work deals mainly with contemporary American culture. Seven books have been published on his works and he has made two films. With an emphasis on social issue ...

's contemporary drawings of the ''Divine Comedy''. The film accurately retells the original story, but with the addition of more recent residents of Hell such as Adolf Hitler and

Boss Tweed William Magear Tweed (April 3, 1823 – April 12, 1878), often erroneously referred to as William "Marcy" Tweed (see below), and widely known as "Boss" Tweed, was an American politician most notable for being the political boss of Tammany ...

. * The 2014 film " As Above So Below" directed by John Erick Dowdle, is based on Dante Alighieri's Inferno. It is presented as found footage of a documentary crew's experience exploring the Catacombs of Paris and draws inspiration of the nine layers of Hell. * The 2015 Chinese documentary ''

Behemoth Behemoth (; he, בְּהֵמוֹת, ''bəhēmōṯ'') is a beast from the biblical Book of Job, and is a form of the primeval chaos-monster created by God at the beginning of creation; he is paired with the other chaos-monster, Leviathan, and ...

'' (Chinese: 悲兮魔兽; pinyin: bēixī móshòu), directed by Zhao Liang, is loosely based on Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy'' and is about the environmental, sociological, and public health effects of coal-mining in China and Inner Mongolia. * The 2016 mystery thriller '' Inferno'' makes many references to ''The Divine Comedy'' and to the Divine Comedy Illustrated by Botticelli including hiding a word puzzle in a version of the painting ''Map of Hell'' with the levels of Hell rearranged. There's a clue in an email that refers to a passage from '' Paradiso'' and the virus that serves as the catalyst for the film's plot is named "Inferno." * The 2018 film '' The House That Jack Built'' features

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...

as protagonist Jack, a serial killer who believes that his murders are a piece of art, similarly to the Divine Comedy, and encounters Virgil as a hallucination portrayed by Bruno Ganz, who is well known for his role in '' Downfall'' as Adolf Hitler, while Jack, after a lengthy conversation with Vergil through the entirety of the film where he expressed his ambitions of becoming an architect despite being an engineer that mirrored Romney's and Hitler's political careers despite their backgrounds as businessman and painter, respectively, ends up wearing the red robe of Dante Alighieri while unsuccessfully attempting to escape Inferno after rejecting Vergil's advice to follow him in the Purgatorio since it is the only safe way to reach the desired destination of Paradiso. * The 2020 film '' Friend of the World'' references ''The Divine Comedy'' and begins with a direct quote by Dante Alighieri.

Television

* The 2005 4th season of the BBC drama series '' Messiah: The Harrowing'' focuses on a serial killer who takes inspiration from ''Inferno'' to punish his or her victims. * In the tenth season of '' Criminal Minds'', the case in the second episode, "Burn", tracks the actions of a serial killer whose crimes are inspired by the punishment in each circle of Hell. * '' The Good Place'' follows an analogous pattern in its main plot, with its characters ascending from hell, through struggles on earth, and into paradise over the course of the show.

Graphic media

Animations, comics and graphic novels

* Dave Sim's sequel series to his comic '' Cerebus'', ''Cerebus in Hell'', satirically utilizes Gustave Doré's engravings for the ''Divine Comedy'' as backgrounds and plot devices. * In the

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series '' Cesare'' (2005) by

Fuyumi Soryo is a Japanese manga artist. Life Soryo was born in Beppu, Oita, Japan. She is a graduate of the Oita prefectural Geijutsu Midorigaoka High School. She was born into the home of a master of the Kanze school of Noh. In her childhood she liked ...

the '' Divine Comedy'' and the friendship between Alighieri and Henry VII,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans ( la, Imperator Romanorum, german: Kaiser der Römer) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period ( la, Imperat ...

, is discussed at length. * The short animation, '' Dante's Hell Animated'' (2014), featuring

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in ''King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes fo ...

as Dante, is based on

Dino di Durante Dino may refer to: Prefix * dino-, a common prefix in taxonomy, meaning "terrible", "formidable" **Dinosaur People * Dino (given name), a masculine given name and a nickname * Dino (surname), a surname found in Albania and Turkey * Diño, a surn ...

's original paintings of Dante's Inferno. * ''Dante's Inferno: The Graphic Novel'' (2012) by Joseph Lanzara utilizes the 1857 illustrations by Gustave Doré from the ''Divine Comedy'' in the form of a comic book inspired by the poem. * The main antagonists of the

'' Fullmetal Alchemist'' and anime '' Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood'' are seven homunculi, each named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins with the exception of Father. There were originally eight, but Greed defected due to his avarice. In addition, Lust is killed when Mustang incinerates her beyond her ability to regenerate using flame alchemy, a direct reference to ''Purgatorio''. *

IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly recog ...

's ''Godzilla in Hell'' miniseries has Godzilla finding himself in Hell after accidentally destroying the planet in a battle with SpaceGodzilla and rampaging his way through the levels of Hell to find a way out, destroying the "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" sign with his atomic breath, battling demons and manifestations of familiar monsters representing various sins, and turning a version of the Mount of Purgatory made up of monster parts into a battlefield between the forces of Heaven and Hell that want to recruit Godzilla into their ranks. * ''Jimbo in Purgatory: being a mis-recounting of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy'' in pictures and un-numbered footnotes'', a 33-page graphic novel by Gary Panter, an adaptation of Dante's ''Purgatorio'' (melded with Boccaccio's ''Decameron'' and a bit of '' Canterbury Tales,''

, John Dryden, and pop culture references). * DC/Vertigo Comics' ''Kid Eternity'' (which premiered in ''Hit Comics'' #25, published by Quality Comics in December 1942), in which Kid and his companion Jerry Sullivan travel to a Dante-inspired Hell to free a partner of Kid's. The structure of the comic also draws features from Dante's ''Inferno''. * ''Mickey's Inferno'' is a comic book adaptation written by

Guido Martina Guido Martina (9 February 1906 – 6 May 1991) was an Italian comic writer, documentarist and author. Martina is well known for his Disney comics stories, including the first of the "" story "L'inferno di Topolino", and the creation of Paperinik ...

and drawn by Angelo Bioletto featuring Disney characters including

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an animated cartoon Character (arts), character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime mascot of The Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red sho ...

Goofy Goofy is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. He is a tall, Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic dog who typically wears a turtle neck and vest, with pants, shoes, white gloves, and a tall hat originally designed as a rumpled f ...

and

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor shirt and cap with a bow tie. Donald is known fo ...

published by the then-Italian Disney comic book licensee Mondadori in the monthly ''

Topolino ''Topolino'' (from the Italian name for Mickey Mouse) is an Italian digest-sized comic series featuring Disney comics. The series has had a long running history, first appearing in 1932 as a comics magazine. It is currently published by Panini ...

'' from Oct. 1949 to March 1950. An English-language version appeared in ''

Walt Disney's Comics and Stories ''Walt Disney's Comics and Stories'', sometimes abbreviated ''WDC&S'', is an American Comics anthology, anthology comic book series featuring characters from The Walt Disney Company's films and shorts, including Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Mic ...

'' #666 (March 2006). * Manga series '' Saint Seiya'' (1986), during the "Hades Inferno" arc, has many characters and structures of Hell based on the circles of Dante, where they're called the Nine Prisons. * Ty Templeton parodied Dante in his ''

Stig's Inferno Tyrone Templeton is a Canadian comic book artist and writer who has drawn a number of mainstream titles, TV-associated titles, and his own series. Career Templeton first received attention for ''Stig's Inferno'' (Vortex Comics), now a cult favo ...

'' (1985-1986). *

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

's ''

The Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character in European folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The Sandman is a traditional charact ...

'' comic series features a heavily Dante-inspired Hell, including the Wood of Suicides, the Malebolge, and the City of Dis; Lucifer is imprisoned in Hell. DC/Vertigo Comics's '' Lucifer'', based on characters from ''The Sandman'', features aspects of a Dante-inspired Hell and Heaven, particularly the Primum Mobile and the Nine Sections of Hell. * The visual novel and anime series '' Umineko no Naku Koro ni'' contains several elements from the ''Divine Comedy'', including two characters named Beatrice (as the Golden Witch), Virgilia (as the Endless Witch) and the Stakes (Seven Deadly Sins). ** The anime adaptation has an ending theme entitled ''La Divina Tragedia ~Makyoku~'', named after the title ''La Divina Comedia''. "Makyoku" is the opposite of "Shinkyoku", ''Divine Comedy''s Japanese title. * The Cartoon Network's miniseries ''

Over the Garden Wall ''Over the Garden Wall'' is an American animated television miniseries created by Patrick McHale for Cartoon Network. The series centers on two half-brothers who travel across a mysterious forest to find their way home, encountering a variet ...

'' corresponds to the structure of the ''Inferno''; it stars a lost poet guided by a woman named Beatrice. * The anime series '' Sin Nanatsu no Taizai'' incorporates elements from the ''Divine Comedy'', including Cocytus (episode 1), the inscription on the gates (episode 9) and a reenactment of Dante's journey to the lowest level of Hell. * In '' Animamundi: Dark Alchemist'', the main character is guided through the nine circles of Hell towards the end of the game. * The anime '' Revolutionary Girl Utena'' has a second ending theme song titled "Virtual Star Embryology" that has a stanza that lists the Spheres of Heaven from the third and final part of the ''Divine Comedy''. It lists from the First Sphere: The Moon to the Ninth Sphere: The Primum Mobile.

Video games

Beyond Software Beyond Software was a video game publisher in the UK in the 1980s. It was set up by the EMAP publishing group in 1983 and published numerous titles on the Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, but met with very little succes ...

wrote ''Dante's Inferno'' in 1986 for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

. * '' Dante's Inferno'' is a 2010 action-adventure video game developed by

Visceral Games Visceral Games (formerly EA Redwood Shores) was an American video game developer studio owned by Electronic Arts. The studio is known for the ''Dead Space'' series. History EA Redwood Shores (1998–2009) In 1998, Electronic Arts (EA) moved fr ...

and published by Electronic Arts for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles. The game was also developed by Artificial Mind and Movement for release on the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

. The story is loosely based on Dante's ''Inferno''. ** '' Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic'' is a direct-to- DVD

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

released on February 9, 2010. The film is a spin-off from the above video game. ** ''Dante's Inferno'' is a series of six

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

based on the above video game. Published by WildStorm from December 2009 through May 2010, the series was written by Christos Gage with art by

Diego Latorre Diego Fernando Latorre (born 4 August 1969) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker or as an offensive midfielder. Career Latorre was born in Buenos Aires. He made his professional debut for Boca Juniors on 18 Oc ...

. * In the game '' Devil May Cry'' (2001), the protagonist's name is Dante, his brother is Vergil, and Dante's partner-in-crime's name is Trish, a derivative of the name Beatrice. It uses the nine circles in its world structure, the seven deadly sins, and the parts of the Cocytus (Caina, Antenora and Judecca) in the names of enemies in the fifth game. * '' Final Fantasy IV'' features four Elemental Lords named Rubicante, Scarmiglione, Barbariccia, and Cagnazzo, after members of the Malebranche. A mid-game boss, Calcabrina, also has the name of a Malebranche demon. Also, there exists a superboss in the DS version named Geryon. * '' Halo 3: ODST'' contains many references to the poem. For example, the Rookie is called into Section Nine, which is very icy and cold, similar to the ninth ring of Hell. In addition, the player's guide through the end of the game is called Vergil. Further, there are characters in the game that correspond to each of the sins. * In '' Persona 3 FES'', areas are called Malebolge, Cocytus, Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, Judecca, and Empyrean. * The 2012 game '' Resident Evil: Revelations'' references Dante's ''Inferno'' extensively, as a bioterrorist organization, "Il Veltro", believes society has degraded into a living version of the nine circles. Verses of the poem are provided at the start of each level. A number of enemies in the game are named after the Malebranche also featured in the poem. The music in the final chapter has a choir eerily singing lines from ''Inferno,'' and the final boss actually quotes it before entering his chamber. *'' Tamashii no Mon Dante no Shinkyoku yori ''(''魂の門ダンテ「神曲」より'' Gate of Souls ~ From Dante's ''Divine Comedy''), a side-scrolling action-adventure game inspired by Dante's '' Divine Comedy'' released on PC-98 and

FM Towns The is a Japanese personal computer, built by Fujitsu from February 1989 to the summer of 1997. It started as a proprietary PC variant intended for multimedia applications and PC games, but later became more compatible with IBM PC compatibles. ...

. * The plot of ''

Ultrakill ''Ultrakill'' (stylized in all caps as ULTRAKILL) is a first-person shooter platformer video game developed by Arsi "Hakita" Patala and published by New Blood Interactive. It was released through Early Access on Steam for Microsoft Windows on S ...

'' revolves around machines descending through hell in order to take blood from the souls of the damned. The different layers are named after those seen in ''Inferno'' and many feature punishments similar to those seen in the poem. * In ''

Wild Arms 2 ''Wild Arms 2'', stylized as ''Wild ARMs 2'' and known in Japan as , is a 1999 role-playing video game for the PlayStation, and the second installment in the '' Wild Arms series'', developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony Computer Enter ...

'', there is a gang called Cocytus, whose members are named Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, and Judecca. * Korean game studio Project Moon's upcoming game ''Limbus Company'' features a variety of characters based on classical literary figures and characters. Among these characters is Dante, the manager and main playable character of the game.

Card games

* The trading card game '' Yu-Gi-Oh!'' released a series of cards known as "Burning Abyss". All cards in the series are based on the eighth circle of Hell and the Malebranche, including Dante, Virgil, and Beatrice.

Tabletop role-playing games

Several aspects of the Divine comedy could have influenced some tabletop role-playing games : the visitation of other worlds, more specifically plane walking through them; a gamified economy of the salvation; and symbolism. * The tabletop role-playing game '' Dungeons & Dragons'' named some levels of the

Nine Hells In the fantasy role-playing game ''Dungeons & Dragons'', an Outer Plane is one of a number of general types of planes of existence. They can also be referred to as ''godly planes'', ''spiritual planes'' or ''divine planes''. The Outer Planes ar ...

after locations in Dante's ''Inferno''. The game borrowed the name "malebranche" for one diabolical race, although the original write-up mistranslated that word as "evil horn". ** The Planescape setting, in particular, borrows many elements from the book (some wholesale, some piecemeal), and much of the expanded cosmology, with dimensions for the dead based on alignment and most dimensions having many separate layers, are inspired by those seen in the ''Inferno''. The planecrawling gameplay of Planescape and early setting of D&D could be heavily inspired by the structured travel of Dante through the layers of the planes of the Divine Comedy.

Notes

External links

700 Years of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'' in Art
– documented image collection on The Public Domain Review
DivineComedy.digital
– a website cataloging 700 years of the ''Divine Comedy'' {{Divine Comedy navbox Literature in popular culture