Dante’s journey into hell by Vincenzo Cohen (Original Painting)

The painting is inspired by the commemorative monument created in 1865 by the sculptor U. Zannoni and placed in Piazza dei Signori in Verona, Italy. The artwork represents the great poet of the national literary tradition according to Boccaccio’s description “with a long face and an aquiline nose. (..) large jaws (…) and always a melancholy and pensive face”. The figure of the poet wrapped in the “lucco”, a typical vest, stands out austere against the infernal scenery in its composure and reflective solemnity. In the background are represented the souls of the lustful, placed in the second circle of hell (Infern, chant V). Condemned for having abandoned themselves to carnal sin and having suffered a violent death, they are enveloped in eternal flames and dragged impetuously from side to side by the currents of the infernal whirlwind. Among the figures represented are the two lovers Paolo Malatesta and Francesca da Rimini, held in a suspended embrace, and the Carthaginian queen Didone.