Salvador Dali (Sp. 1904-1989), Hell Canto 32: The Treacherous to their Homeland , Wood engraving

Salvador Dali

(Sp. 1904-1989)

Hell Canto 32: The Treacherous to their Homeland

Wood engraving, framed under glass

Signed in pencil l.r., signed in plate l.c., editioned "g.a. 21/25" in pencil and embossed stamp l.l.

12 15/16" x 10 3/8" actual, 25 7/8" x 23 3/8" framed

Provenance: Private Collection Cape Elizabeth, Maine

In 1950, the Italian government commissioned Dali to illustrate a 700th anniversary edition of Dante's Inferno, to be published in 1965. When the Italian public learned that Dali, a Spanish artist, was to illustrate a treasure of Italian literature, the government faced such backlash that they revoked the commission from Dali. Dali continued with the project anyway, and spent the next five years working with French publisher Joseph Forêt to create the 3,500 woodblocks that would be used to illustrate the 100 cantos of Dante's Inferno. The project was completed and published in 1963. Pictured here is a scene from Hell Canto 32, wherein Dante confronts the traitor Bocca degli Abati, whose body is frozen eternally in the river Cocytus as punishment for his treachery. When Bocca refuses to provide Dante his name, Dante pulls him by the hair until another tortured soul calls out the name.