William Blake's Illustrations | For Dante's Divin...

: Blake used rich, often kaleidoscopic colors to interpret Dante’s literal descriptions.

: He often added non-textual elements, such as briars at Dante’s feet to represent material world entrapment or specific foot positions to symbolize the material versus the spiritual. A "Correction" of Dante

: Unlike traditional literal renderings, Blake depicted Dante and Virgil as luminous, near-transparent figures to emphasize their spiritual over historical nature.