Tribute to Dante

Coloured pencil and Ink pen on paper

60×40 cm / 23.6×15.7 in, 2019

Not available

I created this calligram in 2021, on the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death, a year in which many celebrations were dedicated to him in Florence and throughout Italy.

I started from the portrait of Dante by Botticelli because, in calligrams, likeness can always be weakened by the weight of the words. I needed an immediately recognizable image, one that could remain readable even when the face was built through text.

The choice of verses was a fundamental part of the work. I selected 19 passages from Inferno, 12 from Purgatorio, and 8 from Paradiso, for a total of 881 words, trying to place the most recognizable verses of the Divine Comedy in the most visible areas of the face.