The Divine Comedy

Dali's Illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy

Commissioned in the early 1950s by the Italian government to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth, Salvador Dalí’s illustrations for The Divine Comedy represent a career-defining fusion of Renaissance tradition and Surrealist exploration. Although the Italian state eventually withdrew its sponsorship due to public outcry over a Spaniard illustrating Italy’s national poet, Dalí continued the project independently, producing 100 masterful watercolors that were later meticulously translated into woodblock engravings with a monumental collaboration between Salvador Dalí, Joseph Foret, and Les Heures Claires’ Jean Estrade. To achieve the lithographs after Dali’s original watercolors, Les Heures Claires called upon their master engravers and artists, Raymond Jacquet and Jean Tarrico.

Over the next five years the team would meticulously carve over 3500 woodblocks to create the necessary color layers to produce the 100 lithographs. Meanwhile, Dalí simultaneously painted new watercolors as he supervised the carving and personally reviewed the proofing process. Finally, after ten years of painting and five years of engraving, the suite was ready to publish.

These prints are celebrated for their incredible creation story, depth of color, and delicate line work, reflecting the artist’s shift from the "paranoiac-critical" method of his youth toward a more spiritual, classical aesthetic. From the grotesque, distorted figures of The Inferno to the agonizingly stagnant limbo of Purgatory, and finally into the ethereal, light-filled visions of Paradise, these lithographs stand as a testament to Dalí’s ability to map the landscape of the human soul. Printed on Rives paper, some featuring the exclusive Les Heures Claires watermark, this edition remains one of the most sought-after graphic suites in 20th-century art history, providing a profound visual dialogue between two of history’s greatest creative minds.