The Cultural Work of FUNIBER and Universidad Europea del Atlántico (European University of the Atlantic, UNEATLANTICO) celebrated on March 6th the inauguration of the exhibition ‘The Divine Comedy’ by Salvador Dalí at the Jade Museum in San José, Costa Rica.
The exhibition will be open to the public until 25 May, Monday to Sunday from 08:00 to 17:00 hours, on the first floor of the Jade Museum.
The opening event was attended by prominent authorities and personalities from the cultural sphere, including Eva Felicia Martínez Sánchez, Spanish ambassador to Costa Rica; Laura Rodríguez, director of the Jade Museum; Claribet Morera, executive director of FUNIBER Costa Rica, as well as representatives of the National Insurance Institute.
Claribet Morera highlighted the value of this exhibition as a bridge between education and art, emphasising the way in which Dalí’s work invites reflection and the discovery of new perspectives. ‘For FUNIBER, it is essential to continue promoting these spaces so that more people, especially the new generations, can discover the transformative power of art,’ she said.
Dalí’s ‘The Divine Comedy’ collection is divided into three series of thirty-three works that portray the three cantos of Dante’s immortal poem and contain: Hell, Purgatory and Paradise.
The illustrations were commissioned by the Italian government from Dalí on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth in 1965. On receiving this important task Dalí declared that ‘it was one of the most important projects of his career’, as his work took him five years on the watercolours, supervising the woodcut plates one by one.
Woodcutting is a technique whereby the design is printed on a piece of wood and then, with the help of a gouge, the image is carved by hand, leaving the drawing in relief, which is then inked to make it stand out. The transfer therefore involved 55 months of work by virtuoso craftsmen under Dalí’s supervision.
The collection of engravings presented were illustrated on wood in a format of 33 x 26 cm using Vèlin pour chiffon de Rives paper, sealing their composition with a plate. Salvador Dalí’s signature was also stamped in plate.
This exhibition represents a unique opportunity to appreciate Salvador Dalí’s talent and his visual interpretation of ‘The Divine Comedy’, a literary work that has transcended centuries and frontiers.
Through these types of initiatives, FUNIBER Costa Rica reaffirms its commitment to cultural promotion, bringing to the community artistic experiences that inspire critical thinking and appreciation of art in all its forms.
