A succinct summary of Dante’s ascent of the mountain-island of Purgatory, with the best of the paintings from Blake to Rossetti.
Rossetti
Millais’ wonderful painting of Ophelia wasn’t the first such work. From West and Delacroix to Rossetti and Bastien-Lepage, here she is.
Four months being bitten to death by midges, then a winter of immersing the model in a bath of tepid water. This masterwork didn’t come easy for anyone.
More superb paintings of the closing moments of the book, by Rossetti, Odilon Redon and others.
It’s sometimes hard to read a painting without understanding an inscription. Masaccio, Rossetti, Moreau, Corinth and Botticelli gives us some clues.
Just before he ascends to the terrestrial heaven on top of the island-mountain of Purgatory, Dante dreams of sisters Leah and Rachel, from the Bible.
Until 1880, varnishing oil paintings was standard practice, but three completely different types of varnish were used. A journey through names like sandarac and colophony.
The souls of those who delayed their repentance until shortly before death stay in Ante-purgatory for a whole lifetime. Among them is a virtuous wife who was murdered by her husband.
She proves unfaithful to King Arthur, in her public affair with Sir Lancelot. But he may not have exactly been loyal to her either.
The Second Circle of Hell, in which those whose sin was lust are blown by eternal storms. The story of Paolo and Francesca, and many wonderful paintings.
