Divine Comedy of Sandro Botticelli
The Divine Comedy with illustrations by Sandro Botticelli originates from between 1480 and 1490 in Florence and was commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (1463–1503). This significant work of world literature was and continually is received in the visual arts. The breathtaking illustrations of this edition are counted among the most famous works by Botticelli.
The Divine Comedy of Sandro Botticelli
One of the most important works in world literature originates from the period between 1307 and around 1321 in Italy. The Divine Comedy, also known by its Italian title Divina Comedia, is simultaneously the first and most famous Italian piece of literature. Dante Alighieri composed this timeless tale. The work has been adapted into countless films and musical pieces, paintings and illustrations, sculptures and architecture, and even a video game has been inspired by the Divine Comedy. Hardly any other literary work from the Middle Ages has had such an influence. The world famous painter Sandro Botticelli made a total of 92 pen and ink drawings, which adorn this edition of the Divine Comedy and belongs among the master’s greatest artworks.
Immortal Literature
The story of the Divine Comedy is a personal vision of Dante’s as he represents Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. It is a tale full of symbol and allegories, a philosophical fiction that is vividly told in spite of the abstract story. Dante played on man’s primal fears, brought past events to life, and slipped in contemporary theological insights. The impressive epic astounds through its figurative language, its irony, and its striking comparisons. Even if everyone does not understand this staggering fiction, the Divine Comedy has nonetheless remained one of the most important works of world literature to this day.
Botticelli’s Illumination
Botticelli was one of the significant painters of the Early Italian Renaissance. Today, his paintings hang in the most important art museums in the world. His picture cycle of the Divine Comedy originates from between 1482 and 1503 at the behest of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (1463–1503). These 92 illustrations are counted among his most famous works. In technical perfection, the pen and ink drawings exemplify the events, people, and fable-like creatures of the Divine Comedy. The edition of the epic with Botticelli’s illustrations was commissioned by the Renaissance Prince Alfonzo de Medici and originates from between 1480 and 1490. This inestimably valuable manuscript exists today in the Vatican Library.
Codicology
- Alternative Titles
- Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy
Divina Commedia con illustrazioni di Sandro Botticelli
Dantes Divina commedia mit den Illustrationen von Sandro Botticelli
Die Göttliche Komödie mit Illustrationen von Sandro Botticelli - Size / Format
- 184 pages / 63.0 × 27.0 cm
- Origin
- Italy
- Date
- 1480–1490
- Epochs
- Style
- Genre
- Language
- Script
- Humanistic Rotunda
- Illustrations
- 92 drawings, 4 of which are completely illuminated
- Patron
- Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (1463–1503)
- Artist / School
- Dante Alighieri (1265–1321) (author)
Sandro Botticelli (ca. 1445–1510) (illuminator)
Nicolaus Mangona (scribe) - Previous Owners
- Queen Christina of Sweden (1626–89)
Divine Comedy of Sandro Botticelli
Lucifer
Botticelli’s second drawing of Lucifer from Inferno XXXIV spans two pages and also illustrates the full story of this canto. Aside from depicting Lucifer as a furry monster with bat wings and three heads – each with terrifying visages and two horns – Dante and Virgil are shown progressing through the Ninth Circle towards the center of Hell. The detail of this unfinished miniature is impressive, and one can only imagine how terrifying it would be if it were finished in full color.

Divine Comedy of Sandro Botticelli
Map of Hell
This magnificent full-page miniature presents Hell as an abyss resembling a quarry consisting of nine rings with Lucifer stuck in ice at the center. Although Hell is described in the Bible as a lake of fire, but both Dante and Botticelli conceived of it as a cave created when God threw Lucifer out of Heaven.
The first five rings are reserved for the unbaptized, “good” heathens ignorant of Christ, and those unable to control their lust, gluttony, greed, anger, and revenge. Murderers, suicides, blasphemers, sodomites, and anyone guilty of heresy and violence dwell in the next two rings. The last two rings contain those guilty of fraud and treachery such as witches, thieves, astrologers, seducers, corrupt politicians, alchemists and sowers of discord.

#1 Dantes Divina Commedia mit den Illustrationen von Sandro Botticelli
Language: German
#2 Dantes Divina Commedia mit den Illustrationen von Sandro Botticelli (Normal Edition)
Language: German
#3 Divina Commedia Illustrata da Sandro Botticelli
Language: Italian
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