Blake's Illustrations of Dante

Blake began to compose 102 water color illustrations to Dante's Divine Comedy in the fall of 1824 for his patron John Linnell. From these Blake selected 7 designs to engrave. The choice of subjects, all from the "Inferno," may have been recommended, or at least approved, by Linnell. There may have been plans to engrave more designs, but even these 7 plates were left incomplete at Blake's death in 1827. The copperplates became Linnell's possession, but it was not until 1838 that he had sets printed for sale.

Like Blake's Job engravings, the Dante plates are pure line engravings without preliminary etching. Although it is difficult to determine Blake's stylistic intentions from unfinished plates, the Dante engravings suggest the influence of Renaissance Italian prints, including the dramatic "broad manner" work of Andrea Mantegna, the artist called "the Dante of his profession" by Blake's friend George Cumberland. See also the introductory comments on the Dante water colors in the Archive under Non-Illuminated Materials/ Drawings and Paintings/ Water Color Drawings.