Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy holds an important place in the pantheon of world literature. Countless artists have been inspired by Dante’s allegorical, visionary work, which describes the Italian poet’s journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven.

Perhaps the best-known artist to adapt Dante’s unearthly tale was Gustave Doré, whose gorgeous folio was published in 1861. Jean-Édouard Dargent (aka Yan’ Dargent) was a rival of Doré’s and also published a book of illustrations (in 1870) detailing Dante’s epic poem. Where Doré’s work featured polished, classical nudes and exquisite line work, Dargent’s felt more primitive, violent, and a little rough around the edges. Blog Monster Brains published Dargent’s prints from the Divine Comedy series, which we feature in our gallery. The details are incredible…

View the entire gallery via Amazing 19th-Century Illustrations of ‘The Divine Comedy’ – Flavorwire.

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• Dante Alighieri Quiz (go4quiz.com)
• The Divine Comedy by Dante, translated by Clive James – review (guardian.co.uk)
• The Infernal Names in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno (encyclopediasatanica.wordpress.com)
• Conveying the true spirit of genius: Clive James’s translation of The Divine Comedy (standard.co.uk)