Inferno: Canto I

"My, what big allegories you have!"

English text of Inferno: Canto I so you kids can play along at home.

One thing to remember about the Divine Comedy is that just about all of the imagery presented is allegorical - which means it's not really meant to be taken literally. The Inferno: Canto I begins as our protagonist Dante writes:

Midway upon the journey of our life
  I found myself within a forest dark,
  For the straightforward pathway had been lost. 

OK, so he's in a dark forest, right? Eh, he's probably just having a midlife crisis and doesn't know which path to take in life, hence the 'forest dark'. Of course back in the 13th century when Dante was alive one's 'path', in the prevalent context of the Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire, meant one's 'path to God'. If Dante had just settled on buying the Ferrari, he probably wouldn't have gotten himself into this mess.

Dante encounters the 'aspects' of three evil animals meant to represent individual sins: The leopard (or spotted panther), the lion, and the she-wolf deter him from climbing the "Mount Delectable", which is supposed to symbolize the path to God. He meets Virgil, a long-dead Roman poet whom Dante idolizes, and is convinced to be escorted on a journey through the three eternal planes, Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.


Now for my contribution: This first illustration has a lot going on. The dark forest creeps up behind Dante and his new buddy Virgil (who is long dead at this point, hence the reason he doesn't have a shadow in this interpretation) as they proceed through the dark valley. In the distance, the shadowy aspects of the leopard, the lion, and the sinister she-wolf appear as the dark shapes one might see in a scary forest.

This first piece in the Carboncino should be large, I felt, and at 22" x 30" this thing is massive! Needless to say not all of the entries will be this big, but this was a pretty enjoyable way to start the project!

One down, 99 to go...