Original early 20th-century Italian art postcard featuring Alberto Martini's dramatic illustration for Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto XV.
The artwork is by important Italian Symbolist illustrator and graphic artist Alberto Martini (1876–1954) and depicts the encounter between Dante and Brunetto Latini in the Inferno.
The composition is known as:
“Brunetto Latini profetizza l'esilio di Dante”
“Brunetto Latini Prophesies Dante's Exile”
and belongs to Martini's celebrated early cycle of illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy, created in 1901 for the illustrated edition promoted by publisher Vittorio Alinari.
The postcard reproduces Martini's distinctive dark, visionary interpretation of the scene, with Dante standing beside Virgil while Brunetto Latini appears among the souls of the damned amid swirling flames and smoke.
Printed directly on the image are:
“Div. Commedia, edita per V. Alinari”
and the artist's signature:
“A. Martini”
The publisher / series information reads:
“ALTEROCCA TERNI 4615”
Below the illustration are verses from Inferno, Canto XV:
“Ma quello ingrato popolo maligno,
Che discese di Fiesole ab antico,
E tiene ancor del monte e del macigno,
Ti si farà, per tuo ben far, nimico.”
This is the passage in which Brunetto Latini foretells the hostility Dante will face from the Florentines and foreshadows his eventual exile.
Martini's illustrations for Dante are particularly admired for their Symbolist atmosphere, dramatic contrasts of black and white, and visionary interpretation of the Divine Comedy.
An attractive original period postcard combining Dante Alighieri, the Divine Comedy, Alberto Martini, Italian Symbolism and early 20th-century book illustration history.
Artist: Alberto Martini (1876–1954)
Subject: Dante and Brunetto Latini
Work: Divine Comedy – Inferno, Canto XV
Original illustration: 1901
Publisher: Alterocca, Terni
Card No.: 4615
Dimensions: 90 × 140 mm (3.54 × 5.51 in)
Postage condition: Unposted
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