The Divine Comedy – Hell
© Ivan Cangelosi, 2012
107X86 cm
Ink on paper
Technique – Handwriting of the whole book of Dante Alighieri – Lingua Volgare
Material – Pens and paper
Category–Politics/Religion
About the Poem – “The Divine Comedy” “is a poem by Dante Alighieri. Composed between 1304 and 1321, the Divine Comedy is considered by some critics as the greatest masterpiece of literature of all time. The poem is divided into three books called “cantiche” (Heel, Purgatory and Paradise , IT – Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso), each of which is composed of 33 lyrics (Canti) but hell who has 34.
Hell (Inferno) – The Dante’s Inferno is envisioned as a series of numbered rings which, placed tighter and tighter one after the other, give form to a sort of an inverted cone; the tightest end is entirely occupied by Lucifer. In this Hell, each circle refers to a particular sin, and each following circle is deeper and closer to Lucifer; the more serious the sin, the deeper the circle.
Description of the painting – This artwork, which is dominated by the red color (the fire of hell), is nothing more than a “stereogram”. The stereogram is a flat, two-dimensional image which gives an illusion of depth. The stereogram represented in this painting is a “random points stereogram” whose correct vision requires special techniques. By the so called “wall-eyed” technique (this technique consist of not focusing the observed object but rather focusing an imaginary point beyond the stereogram), you can view a three-dimensional spiral of concentric circles (representing the infernal circles) which extends in depth. With the technique called “cross-eyed”, you can see the aforesaid 3D spiral as coming out of the picture.”
This artwork represents the first stereogram in the world made by handwriting.