Citings & Sightings of Dante's Works in Contemporary Culture
Artists Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade utilized machine and hand stitching techniques to create the above out of dye painted cotton and antique buttons. —Gayle Fraas and Duncan Slade, “Circle of Hell, why not?” Studio Art Quilt Associates, 2020 (retrieved March 20, 2024)
Social media comic illustrator Maritsa Patrinos (@maritsapatrinos) parodies Dante’s nine circles from Inferno as various types of pasta. —Maritsa Patrinos, SixChix ©2024 King Features Syndicate, inc., February 2, 2024 (retrieved February 7, 2024)
Contributed by Casey Kozan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University ’25
In an essay for Vulture Rachel Handler compares Lindsay Lohan’s new Netflix movie, Falling for Christmas, to Dante’s Divine Comedy: “She must travel through each circle of hell, including Heresy, where she eats bacon despite saying she ‘doesn’t do bacon,’ and Treachery, wherein she learns that her fiancé was gay all along and using her for clout.” –Rachel Handler, “Netflix’s Falling for Christmas Is a Dante’s Inferno-esque Allegory,” Vulture (November 10, 2022)
Read the article here.
In 2017, Toronto artist Nurgul Jones released the blackgaze album Upper and Lower Hell어퍼와 로어 지옥. Through soft, atmospheric industrial sounds, each track creates a dreamscape that might send the listener on a journey from “Circle 1: Limbo아지태” all the way to”Circle 9: The Traitorous배 교자.” A circle of Dante’s Inferno takes a titular spotlight on each one of the nine tracks.
Listen to and download the album on bandcamp here.
“Many metal musicians have incorporated Dante’s nine circle’ template and epic storytelling style into their own music. This list examines some of the best songs that pay homage to one of the greatest poems of all time, ‘Dante’s Inferno.'” –Katy Irizarry, Loudwire, August 15, 2018
The Loudwire piece lists 11 metal songs inspired by Dante, including “Medusa” by Anthrax, “Lion Heart” by Blind Guardian, and “Demon’s Gate” by Candlemass.
Read the article here.
All submissions will be considered for posting. Bibliographic references and scholarly essays are also welcome for consideration.
Coggeshall, Elizabeth, and Arielle Saiber, eds. Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Website. Access date.
