The Inferno, after the Fresco in the Camposanto of Pisa

c. 1480/1500

Italian 15th Century

Associated Names
Italian 15th Century

Artist

This print shows a hellish scene with figures in different levels of punishment. Four distinct layers are visible, each filled with nude human figures and demonic creatures. On each of the layers, humans are tormented by the demonic creatures: wrapped in snakes, stabbed with pitchforks, dismembered, eaten by beasts, poked with pitchforks, or roasted on spits. Behind all these scenes, the background is filled with overlapping flames. A large, monstrous figure in the center of the print with horns, scaly limbs, and clawed feet appears to be eating humans. The lines of the print are black, and the background is off-white paper.

Media Options

This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.
Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    engraving

  • Credit Line

    Rosenwald Collection

  • Dimensions

    plate: 22.5 × 28.8 cm (8 7/8 × 11 5/16 in.)
    sheet: 25.3 × 32.2 cm (9 15/16 × 12 11/16 in.)

  • Accession Number

    1964.8.184

  • Catalogue Raisonné

    Hind 'Engravings', Vol. 1, p.49, no. 59

More About this Artwork

Article:  Going through Hell? See Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” in Art

Travel with artists through Dante’s Nine Circles of Hell.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Zeitlin & Ver Brugge; purchased 1963 by Lessing J. Rosenwald; gift to NGA, 1964.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1966

  • Masters of Etching and Engraving from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, Lakeview Center for the Arts and Sciences, Peoria, IL, 1966, no. 39.

  • East-West in Art, Indiana University Art Museum, Bloomington, IN, 1966.

1973

  • Prints of the Italian Renaissance, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C..; California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, 1973-1974, no. 68.

1975

  • The Inspired Copy: Artists Look at Art, Baltimore Museum of Art, 1975, no. 3.

2023

  • Going through Hell: The Divine Dante, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, 2023.

Bibliography

1938

  • Hind, Arthur M. Early Italian Engraving; a critical catalogue with complete reproductions of all the prints described. 7 vols. London: Bernard Quaritch Ltd., 1938-1948.

1973

  • Levenson et al. 1973, no.10.

Wikidata ID

Q65507069

You may be interested in

Loading Results