Interfaces entre Dante Alighieri e Fernando Botero: ressignificações do inferno na tradição ocidental

Abstract

This study investigates reinterpretations of the Comedy by Dante Alighieri within the Western tradition, with particular focus on Fernando Botero’s pictorial interpretation in the murals Porta del Paradiso and Porta Dell’Inferno, painted in the Church of the Misericordia in Pietrasanta, Italy. Taking Botero’s works as its central axis, the research adopts a comparative perspective to examine the cultural legacy of European and Latin American interpretations of Dante’s poem. Since its publication in the fourteenth century, the Comedy has constituted one of the foundations of the Western Christian imaginary, influencing not only literature but also the visual arts. In this sense, the present study aims to analyze how Botero incorporates, transforms, and updates elements of the poem, while also investigating points of convergence and divergence in relation to the medieval work. Throughout the dissertation, European reinterpretations such as those by Geoffrey Chaucer, Johannes Stradanus, William Blake, Gustave Doré, and Salvador Dalí are mobilized in order to highlight continuities and shifts from the original work. Methodologically, the research establishes comparisons between the pictorial and literary universes of the two authors. It emphasizes interartistic dialogue, considering the distinct languages of literature and painting, as well as the historical and cultural frameworks that permeate the works. This approach allows for the inclusion of other artistic productions that enter into dialogue with those of Dante and Botero. To this end, a bibliographical survey and literature review of the authors and their works were conducted in order to understand how this literary influence crosses the boundaries of time and space, shaping artistic production in different periods and cultures. The theoretical framework articulates studies in comparative literature based on the works of Eduardo Coutinho (2003, 1994), Leyla Perrone-Moisés (1990), and Tania Carvalhal (1991). Reflections on intertextuality draw upon the works of Julia Kristeva (1978), Tiphaine Samoyault (2008), and Laurent Jenny (1979). Our studies on Dante are grounded in the writings of Erich Auerbach (2022, 1976), Jorge Luis Borges (1982), Robert Hollander (2001), and George Holmes (1981). To discuss myth and the religious imaginary, the works of Mircea Eliade (1992) were essential, while the writings of Mikhail Bakhtin (1987) guided the reflections on the grotesque. Analyses of Fernando Botero’s work were supported by the studies of Juan Carlos Botero (2012) and Christian Padilla Peñuela (2018). The formulations on sin and punishment by Saint Augustine (2020) and Kierkegaard (2010) were also fundamental to the development of this research. Finally, this study seeks to reflect on the importance of Dante’s work in shaping Western artistic and cultural tradition and on its continued relevance as a reference that inspires visual artists such as Botero.