FUNIBER’s Cultural Work and UNEATLANTICO, in collaboration with the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University, UNINI Mexico) and the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, UAEMéx), opened the “The Divine Comedy” exhibition by Salvador Dalí at the UAEMéx.
The exhibition can be visited free of charge at the University Gallery “Fernando Cano” of the Historic Building at the UAEMEX Rectory from March 3rd to April 30th, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The opening ceremony was attended by Dr. Luis Dzul López, rector of UNINI Mexico, Dr. Carlos Barrera Díaz, rector of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEMéx), academic and management staff of the university, as well as Dr. Ana Lilia Coria Páez, representative of the Secretariat of Research and Graduate Studies of the National Polytechnic Institute (Instituto Politécnico Nacional, IPN).
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: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.
The illustrations were commissioned by the Italian government to Dalí on the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieri’s birth in 1965. Upon receiving this important task, Dalí declared that “it was one of the most important projects of his career,” as this work took him five years on the watercolors, supervising the woodcut plates one by one.
Woodcutting is a technique by means of which the design is printed on a piece of wood and then, with the help of a gouge, the image is carved manually, leaving the drawing in relief, to which ink will be added so that it will stand out. Therefore, the transfer involved fifty-five 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.
The books were presented in different cases, ranging from the most common ones in rigid cardboard to finely carved wooden cases with Dalí’s designs and accompanied by original watercolors. But “The Divine Comedy” with illustrations by Salvador Dalí was also presented by the French company “Les Heures Claires” of Paris as a suite of 100 engravings collected in three folders.