Blog entry 57:
Whilst etching my dry point plate, I listened to Dante's Inferno (14th Century Epic Poem) as an audiobook and realised that I was struggling to depict the divine because it is so lacking as tangible in The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges, on which my project is loosely based. Whilst listening, I considered how the two story lines could possibly interlink in a visual way, so that I was focussing more on the lack of the divine rather than the prescience of it.
As I am very interested in illustrating poetry such as this I feel that this is an appropriate way to tackle my project based on The Library of Babel.
To listen to the audiobook Dante's Inferno please follow the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxEn4h9Y64c
(Alighieri, 1300)
"Let heaven exist, though my own place be in hell." (Borges, 1944)
The above quote is taken from the Library of Babel, and has inspired me to visually describe the library visually as the seven hells in Inferno, Taking ideas from both settings and linking them.
To better understand Dante's Inferno, I have undertaken some research so I am completely sure that I fully comprehend what the Poem describes, being as it is both translated and worded difficulty:
To look at the research I have read please follow the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)
(Wikimedia foundation, 2014)
http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/index2.html
(The University of Texas at Austin, 2007, Abridged version of Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Inferno)
Brief overview of Dante:
Dante degli Alighieri (1265 - 1321) was a well known Italian poet, his most famous work was his Divine Comedy, of which Inferno is a part and was originally written in Italian.
The Nine Circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno:
Limbo (Canto 4) First Circle
- A place for those who have not been baptised including infants - Castle where many poets including Homer inhabit
Lust (Canto 5) Second Circle
- People in this area are the first to be properly punished, they are blown back and forth by strong winds
Gluttony (Canto 6) Third Circle
- "The Great worm" (Alighieri, 1300) Cerberus guards this area, the gluttons lie in the slush of icy rain
Avarice and Prodigality (Greed) (Canto 7) Fourth Circle
- Many clergymen, popes and cardinals are in this fourth circle, the people in this area have heavy weights on their chests and are forced to collide into each other (this reminds me of a newton's cradle) This area is guarded by "Pluto" which either describes the classical ruler of the underworld or Greek God of wealth Plutus
Wrath and Sullenness (anger)(Canto 7 - 8) Fifth Circle
- This area is a river in which the inhabitants lay beneath the surface
Heresy (Canto 10) Sixth Circle
- The people here are trapped in flaming tombs (Hexagonal tombs?)
Violence: Murder, Suicide, Blasphemy, Sodomy, Usury (Canto 12 - 17) Seventh Circle
- Outer Ring: This ring harbours violence against people and property, the people here are immersed in the river Phlegethon which is made of blood and fire
- Middle Ring: This ring harbours people who committed Suicide and Spendthrifts, these people are turned into gnarled thorny bushes and trees and fed on by the harpies, those who committed suicide are trees in this place which have their own corpses hanging from these trees. The spendthrifts are mauled and chased by ferocious dogs.
- Inner Ring: This ring harbours the blasphemers and sodomites which inhabit a flaming desert with hot ash flakes raining from the sky - blasphemers lie on the sand, usurers sit and sodomites wander in groups
Freud: Pimping and Seducing, Flattery, Simony, Sorcery, Political Corruption, Hypocracy (Canto 18 - 23) Eight Circle
- This circle is split in to areas called Bolgias
More Freud: Theft, Fraudulent, Divisiveness, Falsification (Canto 24 - 30)
Bolgia 1: Panderers and seducers march in separate lines and are whipped by demons
Bolgia 2: Flatterers are covered in human excrement
Bolgia 3: People who are condemned of Simony are head first in holes with flames burning the soles of his feet
Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, astrologers and false prophets have their heads twisted around to face backward and walk backwards
Bolgia 5: Corrupt Politicians are immersed in a lake of tar, which is guarded by devils called the Malebranche
Bolgia 6: Hypocrites walk around wearing lead capes, the Pope who ordered Jesus to be crucified is seen here crucified to the ground and trampled
Borgia 7: Thieves are chased and bitten by snakes and lizards, a bite makes the victim change shape, this area is guarded by Centaur Cacus who has a fire breathing dragon
Borgia 8: Fraudulent advisers and evil councillors are concealed by individual flames
Borgia 9: Sowers of discord are hacked to pieces with a sword by a demon, as it makes it's rounds, the wounds heal before being hacked apart again
Borgia 10: More falsifiers suffer from various diseases
Treachery: Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, Judecca (Canto 32 - 34) Ninth Circle
- This circle is watched over by Giants
Round 1 Caïna: Inhabitants are surrounded by ice up to their chins
Round 2 Atenora: Similar to Round 1
Round 3 Ptolomaea: Traitors to their guests are here who lie in ice which covers everything but their faces
Round 4 Judecca: Traitors here are completely engulfed in ice and are trapped in all conceivable positions
In the centre of the ninth circle is Satan who is described as having 3 faces, one red, one yellow and one black, and six wings which are constantly beating, Satan is waist deep in ice and is cobbling, each of his mouthes eats a prominent traitor feet first apart form Judas who's head is being gnawed
(Wikimedia, 2014)
All of this information has inspired me to design each of the nine circles (or hexagons) of hell using The Library of Babel's settings and ideas.
The above quote is taken from the Library of Babel, and has inspired me to visually describe the library visually as the seven hells in Inferno, Taking ideas from both settings and linking them.
To better understand Dante's Inferno, I have undertaken some research so I am completely sure that I fully comprehend what the Poem describes, being as it is both translated and worded difficulty:
To look at the research I have read please follow the links below:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Dante)
(Wikimedia foundation, 2014)
http://danteworlds.laits.utexas.edu/index2.html
(The University of Texas at Austin, 2007, Abridged version of Danteworlds: A Reader's Guide to the Inferno)
Brief overview of Dante:
Dante degli Alighieri (1265 - 1321) was a well known Italian poet, his most famous work was his Divine Comedy, of which Inferno is a part and was originally written in Italian.
The Nine Circles of Hell in Dante's Inferno:
Limbo (Canto 4) First Circle
- A place for those who have not been baptised including infants - Castle where many poets including Homer inhabit
Lust (Canto 5) Second Circle
- People in this area are the first to be properly punished, they are blown back and forth by strong winds
Gluttony (Canto 6) Third Circle
- "The Great worm" (Alighieri, 1300) Cerberus guards this area, the gluttons lie in the slush of icy rain
Avarice and Prodigality (Greed) (Canto 7) Fourth Circle
- Many clergymen, popes and cardinals are in this fourth circle, the people in this area have heavy weights on their chests and are forced to collide into each other (this reminds me of a newton's cradle) This area is guarded by "Pluto" which either describes the classical ruler of the underworld or Greek God of wealth Plutus
Wrath and Sullenness (anger)(Canto 7 - 8) Fifth Circle
- This area is a river in which the inhabitants lay beneath the surface
Heresy (Canto 10) Sixth Circle
- The people here are trapped in flaming tombs (Hexagonal tombs?)
Violence: Murder, Suicide, Blasphemy, Sodomy, Usury (Canto 12 - 17) Seventh Circle
- Outer Ring: This ring harbours violence against people and property, the people here are immersed in the river Phlegethon which is made of blood and fire
- Middle Ring: This ring harbours people who committed Suicide and Spendthrifts, these people are turned into gnarled thorny bushes and trees and fed on by the harpies, those who committed suicide are trees in this place which have their own corpses hanging from these trees. The spendthrifts are mauled and chased by ferocious dogs.
- Inner Ring: This ring harbours the blasphemers and sodomites which inhabit a flaming desert with hot ash flakes raining from the sky - blasphemers lie on the sand, usurers sit and sodomites wander in groups
Freud: Pimping and Seducing, Flattery, Simony, Sorcery, Political Corruption, Hypocracy (Canto 18 - 23) Eight Circle
- This circle is split in to areas called Bolgias
More Freud: Theft, Fraudulent, Divisiveness, Falsification (Canto 24 - 30)
Bolgia 1: Panderers and seducers march in separate lines and are whipped by demons
Bolgia 2: Flatterers are covered in human excrement
Bolgia 3: People who are condemned of Simony are head first in holes with flames burning the soles of his feet
Bolgia 4: Sorcerers, astrologers and false prophets have their heads twisted around to face backward and walk backwards
Bolgia 5: Corrupt Politicians are immersed in a lake of tar, which is guarded by devils called the Malebranche
Bolgia 6: Hypocrites walk around wearing lead capes, the Pope who ordered Jesus to be crucified is seen here crucified to the ground and trampled
Borgia 7: Thieves are chased and bitten by snakes and lizards, a bite makes the victim change shape, this area is guarded by Centaur Cacus who has a fire breathing dragon
Borgia 8: Fraudulent advisers and evil councillors are concealed by individual flames
Borgia 9: Sowers of discord are hacked to pieces with a sword by a demon, as it makes it's rounds, the wounds heal before being hacked apart again
Borgia 10: More falsifiers suffer from various diseases
Treachery: Caina, Antenora, Ptolomea, Judecca (Canto 32 - 34) Ninth Circle
- This circle is watched over by Giants
Round 1 Caïna: Inhabitants are surrounded by ice up to their chins
Round 2 Atenora: Similar to Round 1
Round 3 Ptolomaea: Traitors to their guests are here who lie in ice which covers everything but their faces
Round 4 Judecca: Traitors here are completely engulfed in ice and are trapped in all conceivable positions
In the centre of the ninth circle is Satan who is described as having 3 faces, one red, one yellow and one black, and six wings which are constantly beating, Satan is waist deep in ice and is cobbling, each of his mouthes eats a prominent traitor feet first apart form Judas who's head is being gnawed
(Wikimedia, 2014)
All of this information has inspired me to design each of the nine circles (or hexagons) of hell using The Library of Babel's settings and ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment