“Illustrating Dante’s Divine Comedy” is an exhibition that celebrates the 700th Anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s poem “The Divine Comedy.” This exhibition is being held in the Reece Museum here on campus.
Within the exhibit, forty-six Salvador Dali prints have been displayed in order of the storyline in “The Divine Comedy.” There are also several other personal works by various illustrators, as well as many works from Dr. Joshua Reid’s personal collection. Monika Beisner has works displayed as well, and she was the first female illustrator of the poem in history.
The Reece Museum is encouraging students and staff to create their own artistic interpretations of this poem and submit them to the museum for a chance for their works to be displayed as well.
On Tuesday, Sept. 21, there will be a marathon reading of “Inferno” taking place from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Students are welcome to come and stay the entire time, or there will be Zoom meetings for those who are not able to join, but would still like to listen to the reading. This is an opportunity for students to come together and listen to this epic poem by Dante and discuss the literature with one another, all while being immersed within the exhibit.
Spenser Brenner, Exhibition Coordinator at the Reece Museum, spoke on the importance of this exhibit.
“What’s interesting about this one is [that] we’re not only celebrating Salvador Dali and his accomplishments, but we’re also celebrating the accomplishment of the poem itself. 700 years ago, Dante Alighieri passed away. The year before that, he wrote “The Divine Comedy,” and since then, hundreds of artists have been illustrating this great work.”
The Reece Museum is active on social media and their YouTube channel, and a virtual tour of this event and other upcoming events can be found there. This exhibit is available until Sept. 24, and the Reece Museum is free and open to all students and public patrons from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, weekly.
