Dante and the Visual Arts 1300-1500

Dante and the Visual Arts is the result of an ongoing collaboration between the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies (CMRS) and the Institut d’Estudies Medievals (IEM) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) in Spain. The broad aim of the project is to explore the impact of medieval visual arts on Dante’s Divine Comedy and how, in turn, the Divine Comedy influenced the visual arts in the following two centuries.

Dante’s work inspired a wide range of visual arts, including illuminated manuscripts, paintings, sculpture, architecture, and murals.  Since 2010, CMRS and IEM have organized colloquia and conferences on the influence of Dante’s Divine Comedy on the visual arts.  These congresses and our research have brought together scholars, cultural organizations, and museums, in particular the Centro Internazionale de Studi Francesca da Rimini in Rimini (Italy) and the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, which have become partners in the project.  The project’s ultimate goal is to create an electronic database encompassing all visual material (c. 1300-1500) related to the Divine Comedy so that they are easily accessible for comparative study.

Dante and the Visual Arts is under the direction of Rossend Arqués (UAB) and Massimo Ciavolella (UCLA). Carme Font (UAB) and Sarah Cantor (UCLA) compile and input data into the database.  Other scholars involved in the project are Ferruccio Farina (Centro Internazionale de Studi Francesca Da Rimini) and Annalisa Zanni (Museo Poldi Pezzoli de Milano).

Support for Dante and the Visual Arts has been provided by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation and The Samuel H. Kress Foundation.