Project: Dante's Carboncino

Lucifer, 2010

Dante's Carboncino is an extensive charcoal illustration project which is based on the Divine Comedy, an epic three-part tale by 13th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Inspiration for these illustrations also comes from engravings by 19th century French artist Gustave Doré.

Divided into 100 Cantos, the Divine Comedy chronicles Dante's guided tour through the three realms of eternity, first the Inferno, then Purgatorio, and finally the heavenly Paradiso. It is an allegorical epic of the soul's journey to God and was one of the first major works that sparked the Italian Renaissance.

Throughout the course of this project I will create 100 original illustrations in charcoal - one for each Canto. At an average of two illustrations per week, this endeavor would take slightly under one year to complete. However, due to the likelihood of breaks or work slowdowns, the project will more realistically take between 1 and 2 years to see to completion.

Dante's Carboncino will begin at 12:01am PST on Saturday, February 26th with Inferno: Canto I