Images of the Journey in Dante's Divine Comedy
- Binding: Hardcover
- Publisher: Yale Univ Pr
- Publish date: 10/01/1997
Taylor and Finley examine Dante's poem as a psychological journey from the dark wood of depression, through painful purgations achieved in inner work and dreams, to the maturity of objective love that is grounded in feminine compassion. And they explore how Dante's own life journey is the necessary setting for his poem. They support their interpretation with visual images of the poet's imagined journey as created by illustrators from the naive yet skilled medieval illuminators of the fourteenth century through artists as notable and diverse as Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni di Paolo, William Blake, Gustave Dore, and Leonard Baskin. In this book, Taylor and Finley encourage newcomers to discover the depth of Dante's insight into the essential human journey and invite those who know the Divine Comedy to rediscover the inexhaustible riches of the poem itself.
"This is a beautiful book, and the gorgeous pictures are their own reward. But it delivers more -- guidance to the readerwho is not already a Dante scholar. It is, I think, a true invitation to a journey". -- Peter S. Hawkins, Yale Divinity School