Botticelli Inferno

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Botticelli Inferno
Botticelli Inferno poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed byRalph Loop [1]
Written byRalph Loop [1]
Distributed byNexo Digital, Sky Arts HD, MYmovies.it [2]
Release date
  • November 2016 (2016-11)
Running time
96 minutes [3]
Countries
  • Italy
  • Germany
LanguageGerman

Botticelli Inferno is a 2016 Italian-German documentary film directed by Ralph Loop. The film is part of the project Great Art Cinema and analyses one of the most mysterious works of Sandro Botticelli, the Map of Hell in the Divine Comedy Illustrated by Botticelli in the Vatican Library. [2] [4] The map was originally part of an illustrated manuscript of Dante's Divine Comedy , featuring artwork by Botticcelli.

Contents

The film was edited in the facilities of TV Plus, Medea Film, and Nexo Digital. [4] It attempts to shed light on Botticelli's motivation for drawing his Map of Hell, and, in the process, to reveal the dark, and less well known, side of the Renaissance master who is famous for painting The Birth of Venus and Primavera .

Plot

Botticelli had created 102 drawings based on the writings of Dante's Inferno depicting Dante's vision of Hell. [4] One of those drawings, the Map of Hell, shows the suffering of the condemned souls at the various levels of Hell, is analysed by art experts and their conclusions are presented in the film. [4]

When the director of the film, Ralph Loop, saw Botticelli's exhibitions in Berlin and London in 2015, he became so fascinated with the Map of Hell that he decided to make a film about it. [5] In Ron Howard's Inferno , the Map of Hell is shown briefly as a projection on a wall, while Ralph Loop's film is dedicated to examining the map and its history in detail. [5]

The film attempts to shed light on what motivated Botticelli to draw the Map of Hell, and, in doing so, to reveal the dark, and less well known, side of the Renaissance master who is famous for painting The Birth of Venus and Primavera . [4] [6]

The drawing is about 30 by 40 centimetres and in the film it is examined by a glove-wearing German art historian inside the air-conditioned vaults of the Vatican. A letter from Friedrich Lippmann, director of Kupferstichkabinett Berlin, who in 1882 brought 85 of Botticelli's 102 drawings to the museum, is also shown in the film. A high-performance digital scanner is used in the film to reveal details in the map which could not be discerned by the human eye. [2] [5] [7]

Locales

The film was shot on location in the Vatican, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, the Vatican Library, London, Berlin and Scotland. [8]

Reception

The Map of Hell painting by Botticelli is the subject of the film. Sandro Botticelli - La Carte de l'Enfer.jpg
The Map of Hell painting by Botticelli is the subject of the film.

Die Zeit comments that the film is worth seeing "as a background for the blockbuster [Ron Howard's film] – or instead." and further comments that Ron Howard's film only briefly shows a projection of the map, while in Ralph Loop's film the viewer can "marvel at the miracle in detail". The reviewer further asks "A whole film about a darkly colored drawing of just 30 by 40 centimeters, centuries old – is not that terribly dry?" concluding that "In fact, the small film is not meant to provide new insights to art scientists. But it entertains us non-experts in the best possible [way] with the little material that can be filmed in this subject so we see shots of Florence and Rome...". Die Zeit finally concludes, "Anyone who can free himself from such perfectly overworked vision of hell, recognizes Botticelli's painting [for] what it still is: infernal[ly] good." [5]

Spielfilm.de comments that the film will be interesting to "[a]lmost anyone who has a passion for exciting thriller costumes or unsolved secrets (the history of art and culture)". The critic further comments "[o]n the one hand, [Loop] provides a comprehensive insight into the time of Botticelli – at all times, friendly, and comprehensible. And also for cinema-goers, to whom Botticelli and his art so far were largely foreign." Concerning the technology employed to scan the map details, the reviewer remarks that "[f]or the documentary "Botticelli Inferno", the [map] was illuminated with a high-performance scanner. This makes shading, coloring, details and hidden messages visible in an unprecedented way. Things that hitherto remained hidden from the eye." The review also mentions that the film employs a first-person narration technique, when referring to Botticelli, that makes the viewer feel close to the artist. The critic goes on to conclude that the film is: "a masterly, artfully documented work of art, [about] one of the most mysterious works of art in history." [1]

AlloCiné comments that "Botticelli – Inferno transports viewers into another world: a journey to the underworld through the nine levels of hell, as described by Dante. "Only by traveling through hell and purgatory we can reach paradise and emerge to see the stars again" Do not miss this unique event, specially created for cinema." [9]

Release

The film was released in Italy in November 2016. [4]

Related Research Articles

Sandro Botticelli Italian Renaissance painter (1445–1510)

Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi, known as Sandro Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered by the Pre-Raphaelites who stimulated a reappraisal of his work. Since then, his paintings have been seen to represent the linear grace of late Italian Gothic and some Early Renaissance painting, even though they date from the latter half of the Italian Renaissance period.

<i>The Birth of Venus</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli

The Birth of Venus is a painting by the Italian artist Sandro Botticelli, probably executed in the mid 1480s. It depicts the goddess Venus arriving at the shore after her birth, when she had emerged from the sea fully-grown. The painting is in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy.

<i>Inferno</i> (Niven and Pournelle novel) 1976 novel by Larry Niven

Inferno is a fantasy novel written by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, published in 1976. It was nominated for the 1976 Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel.

<i>Dantes Inferno</i> (1935 film) 1935 film

Dante's Inferno is a 1935 American drama film starring Spencer Tracy and loosely based on Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. The film remains primarily remembered for a 10-minute depiction of hell realised by director Harry Lachman, himself an established post-impressionist painter. This was Fox Film Corporation's last film before the company merged with Twentieth Century Pictures to form 20th Century Fox.

<i>The Gates of Hell</i> Monumental sculpture by Auguste Rodin

The Gates of Hell is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the Inferno, the first section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. It stands at 6 metres high, 4 metres wide and 1 metre deep (19.7×13.1×3.3 ft) and contains 180 figures. The figures range from 15 centimetres (6 in) high up to more than one metre (3 ft). Several of the figures were also cast as independent free-standing statues.

<i>LInferno</i> 1911 film by Francesco Bertolini, Giuseppe de Liguoro and Adolfo Padovan

L'Inferno is a 1911 Italian silent film, loosely adapted from Inferno, the first canticle of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. L'Inferno took over three years to make, and was the first full-length Italian feature film.

<i>Pallas and the Centaur</i> Painting by Sandro Botticelli (c. 1482)

Pallas and the Centaur is a painting by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli, c. 1482. It is now in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. It has been proposed as a companion piece to his Primavera, though it is a different shape. The medium used is tempera paints on canvas and its size is 207 x 148 cm. The painting has been retouched in many places, and these retouchings have faded.

<i>Divine Comedy</i> in popular culture

The Divine Comedy has been a source of inspiration for artists, musicians, and authors since its appearance in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. Works are included here if they have been described by scholars as relating substantially in their structure or content to the Divine Comedy.

Baccio Baldini

Baccio Baldini was an Italian goldsmith and engraver of the Renaissance, active in his native Florence. All that is known of Baldini's life, apart from the date of his burial in Florence, is what Vasari says of him: that Baldini was a goldsmith and pupil of Maso Finiguerra, the Florentine goldsmith who was, according to Vasari's incorrect claim, the inventor of engraving. Vasari says Baldini based all of his works on designs by Sandro Botticelli because he lacked disegno himself. Today Baldini is best remembered for his collaboration with Botticelli on the first printed Dante in 1481, where it is believed the painter supplied the drawings for Baldini to turn into engravings, but it does not seem to be the case that all his work was after Botticelli. He has long been attributed with a number of other engravings as the leading practitioner of the Florentine Fine Manner of engraving, this rather tentatively; he is often given a "workshop" or "circle" to ease uncertainty.

Dantes Satan

In Dante's Inferno, Satan is portrayed as a giant demon, frozen mid-breast in ice at the center of Hell. Satan has three faces and a pair of bat-like wings affixed under each chin. As Satan beats his wings, he creates a cold wind that continues to freeze the ice surrounding him and the other sinners in the Ninth Circle. The winds he creates are felt throughout the other circles of Hell. In his three mouths, he chews on Judas Iscariot, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Scholars consider Satan to be "a once splendid being from whom all personality has now drained away". Satan, also known as Lucifer, was formerly the Angel of Light and once tried to usurp the power of God. As punishment, God banished Satan out of Heaven to an eternity in Hell as the ultimate sinner. Dante illustrates a less powerful Satan than most standard depictions; he is slobbering, wordless, and receives the same punishments in Hell as the rest of the sinners. In the text, Dante vividly illustrates Satan's grotesque physical attributes.

<i>Dantes Inferno</i> (video game) 2010 video game

Dante's Inferno is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Visceral Games and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable in February 2010. The PlayStation Portable version was developed by Artificial Mind and Movement. A direct-to-DVD animated movie based on the video game, titled Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, was released simultaneously with it.

<i>The Barque of Dante</i> Painting by Eugène Delacroix

The Barque of Dante, also Dante and Virgil in Hell, is the first major painting by the French artist Eugène Delacroix, and is a work signalling the shift in the character of narrative painting, from Neo-Classicism towards Romanticism. The painting loosely depicts events narrated in canto eight of Dante's Inferno; a leaden, smoky mist and the blazing City of the Dead form the backdrop against which the poet Dante fearfully endures his crossing of the River Styx. As his barque ploughs through waters heaving with tormented souls, Dante is steadied by Virgil, the learned poet of Classical antiquity.

<i>Dantes Inferno</i> (1924 film) 1924 film by Henry Otto

Dante's Inferno is a 1924 American silent drama film directed by Henry Otto that was released by Fox Film Corporation and adapted from Inferno, part of Dante Alighieri's epic poem Divine Comedy. The film mixes material from Dante's "Inferno" with plot points from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The book was filmed earlier in 1911 in Italy as L'Inferno, and Fox later remade the film in 1935, again as Dante's Inferno, starring Spencer Tracy in the lead role.

<i>Dantes Inferno</i> (1967 film) 1967 television film directed by Ken Russell

Dante's Inferno: The Private Life of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Poet and Painter (1967) is a feature-length 35mm film directed by Ken Russell and first screened on the BBC on 22 December 1967 as part of Omnibus. It quickly became a staple in cinemas in retrospectives of Russell's work. Using nonlinear narrative technique, it tells of the relationship between the 19th-century artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti and his model, Elizabeth Siddal.

<i>Primavera</i> (Botticelli) Painting by Sandro Botticelli

Primavera, is a large panel painting in tempera paint by the Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli made in the late 1470s or early 1480s. It has been described as "one of the most written about, and most controversial paintings in the world", and also "one of the most popular paintings in Western art".

<i>Paolo and Francesca da Rimini</i>

Paolo and Francesca da Rimini is a watercolour by British artist and poet Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painted in 1855 and now in Tate Britain.

<i>Inferno</i> (Brown novel) Novel by Dan Brown

Inferno is a 2013 mystery thriller novel by American author Dan Brown and the fourth book in his Robert Langdon series, following Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code and The Lost Symbol. The book was published on May 14, 2013, ten years after publication of The Da Vinci Code (2003), by Doubleday. It was number one on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover fiction and Combined Print & E-book fiction for the first eleven weeks of its release, and also remained on the list of E-book fiction for the first seventeen weeks of its release. A film adaptation was released in the United States on October 28, 2016.

<i>Inferno</i> (2016 film) 2016 mystery film directed by Ron Howard

Inferno is a 2016 American action mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard and written by David Koepp, loosely based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Dan Brown. It is the sequel to The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Angels & Demons (2009), and is the third and final film in the Robert Langdon film series. It stars Tom Hanks, reprising his role as Robert Langdon, alongside Felicity Jones as Dr. Sienna Brooks, Omar Sy, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Ben Foster, and Irrfan Khan.

<i>The Day Dream</i> (painting) Painting by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The Day Dream or, as it was initially intended to be named, Monna Primavera, is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood founder member Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The work, which measures 158.7 centimetres (62.5 in) high by 92.7 centimetres (36.5 in) wide, was undertaken in 1880 and depicts Jane Morris in a seated position on the bough of a sycamore tree. In her hand is a small stem of honeysuckle – a token of love in the Victorian era – that may be an indication of the secret affair the artist was immersed in with her at the time. The artwork was left to the Victoria and Albert Museum by Constantine Alexander Ionides in 1900.

<i>Divine Comedy Illustrated by Botticelli</i>

The Divine Comedy Illustrated by Botticelli is a manuscript of the Divine Comedy by Dante, illustrated by 92 full-page pictures by Sandro Botticelli that are considered masterpieces and amongst the best works of the Renaissance painter. The images are mostly not taken beyond silverpoint drawings, many worked over in ink, but four pages are fully coloured. The manuscript eventually disappeared and most of it was rediscovered in the late nineteenth century, having been detected in the collection of the Duke of Hamilton by Gustav Friedrich Waagen, with a few other pages being found in the Vatican Library. Botticelli had earlier produced drawings, now lost, to be turned into engravings for a printed edition, although only the first nineteen of the hundred cantos were illustrated.

References

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  2. 1 2 3 "Botticelli e l'Inferno di Dante: il docufilm nei cinema italiani". arte.sky.it. 1 November 2016.
  3. "Botticelli Inferno". filmup.leonardo.it.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Grande Arte al Cinema "Botticelli. Inferno", il 7,8,9 novembre 2016". artemagazine.it.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Wenke Husmann (13 October 2016). ""Inferno": Ein infernalischer Herbst". Zeit Online.
  6. "Botticelli. Inferno". trovacinema.repubblica.it.
  7. "Nexo Digital presenta Botticelli Inferno". Nexo Digital.
  8. "Botticelli Inferno". cinemamontreal.com.
  9. "Botticelli Inferno". allocine.fr.