![]() 6.49-52)īirk’s illustrations of the Inferno often target American consumerist culture. Inferno 6 : The Gluttonous (Sandow Birk : Inf. Is Birk trying to say that modern-day love and passion are at odds with a state-controlled existence, for instance? ![]() Like the rest of Birk’s illustrations, this creative adaptation inspires us to contextualize Dante’s ethics in modern-day American realities. Birk’s Vergil, who is more prominent in this composition, wears an American flag and is poised with Dante on a broken overlook of concrete, with a helicopter, symbol of state surveillance, in the distance. ![]() In Doré’s romanticized engraving, the pilgrim and his guide are dwarfed by the landscape. Here, the California-born artist appears to slightly shift the center of Doré’s composition in order to emphasize the human figures in the middle of the newly-envisioned “American” landscape. 5.32-33)īirk’s portrayal of Paolo and Francesca in Inferno 5 displays many of the original and thought-provoking aspects of the artist’s illustration of The Divine Comedy, which itself can be considered an adaptation of Gustave Doré’s engravings (published between 18 by Hachette Books). Inferno 5 : Paolo and Francesca (Sandow Birk: Inf. ![]() ![]() (All images can be located in the Chronicle Books editions.) Selected illustrations from Birk’s Comedy - Inferno ![]()
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