INFERNO, Canto XV, illustration 1

Title: …a company of shades came into sight

walking beside the bank. They stared at us

as men at evening by the new moon's light

stare at one another when they pass by

on a dark road…

10.25 x 7.5 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
December 15, 2020

image 2297

INFERNO, Canto XIV, illustration 4

Title: "…the unburning margins form a lane

and by them we may cross the burning plain."

11.75 x 8.25 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
December 10, 2020

image 2295

INFERNO, Canto XIV, illustration 3

Title: His head is made of gold; of silverwork

his breast and both his arms, of polished brass

the rest of his great torso to the fork.

He is of chosen iron from there down,

except that his right foot is terra cotta;

it is this foot he rests more weight upon.

Every part except the gold is split

by a great fissure from which endless tears

drip down and hollow out the mountain's pit.

15.75 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
December 7, 2020

image 2294

INFERNO, Canto XIV, illustration 2

Title: At this my Guide spoke with such vehemence

as I had not heard from him in all of Hell:

"O Capaneus, by your insolence

you are made to suffer as much fire inside

as falls upon you. Only your own rage

could be fit torment for your sullen pride."

10.75 x 12.25 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
December 3, 2020

image 2293

INFERNO, Canto XIV, illustration 1

Title: And over all that sand on which they lay

or crouched or roamed, great flakes of flame fell slowly

as snow falls in the Alps on a windless day.

10.875 x 15.75 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
November 30, 2020

image 2292

INFERNO, Canto XIII, illustration 4

Title: Then at his back

the wood leaped with black bitches, swift as greyhounds

escaping from their leash, and all the pack

sprang on him…

11.75 x 10.25 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
November 28, 2020

image 2291

INFERNO, Canto XIII, illustration 3

Title: "Briefly is the answer given: when

out of the flesh from which it tore itself,

the violent spirit comes to punishment,

Minos assigns it to the seventh shelf.

It falls into the wood, and landing there,

wherever fortune flings it, it strikes root

and there it sprouts, lusty as any tare,

shoots up a sapling, and becomes a tree."

10 x 8 inches
collage and ink on watercolor paper
November 26, 2020

image 2290

INFERNO, Canto XIII, illustration 2

Title: Puzzled, I raised my hand a bit and slowly

broke off a branchlet from an enormous thorn:

and the great trunk of it cried: "Why do you break me?"

10.625 x 7.75 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
November 24, 2020

image 2289

INFERNO, Canto XIII, illustration 1

Title: Here nest the odious Harpies of whom my Master

wrote how they drove Aeneas and his companions

from the Strophades with prophecies of disaster.

12.25 x 10.625 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
November 23, 2020

image 2288

INFERNO, Canto XII, illustration 4

Title: Some stood up to their lashes in that torrent

and as we passed them the huge Centaur said:

"These were the kings of bloodshed and despoilment.

Here they pay for their ferocity."

10.5 x 8 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
November 10, 2020

image 2287

INFERNO, Canto XII, illustration 3

Title: "The one in the middle staring at his chest

is the mighty Chiron, he who nursed Achilles…"

12.25 x 10.75 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
October 29, 2020

image 2286

INFERNO, Canto XII, illustration 2

Title: But turn your eyes to the valley; there we shall find

the river of boiling blood in which are steeped

all who struck down their fellow men.

10.75 x 8.25 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
October 27, 2020

image 2285

INFERNO, Canto XII, illustration 1

Title: …and there

at the very top, at the edge of the broken cleft,

lay spread the Infamy of Crete, the heir

of bestiality and the lecherous queen

who hid in a wooden cow.

15.75 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
October 22, 2020

image 2284

INFERNO, Canto XI, illustration 4

Title: "But come, for it is my wish now to go on:

the wheel turns and the Wain lies over Caurus,

the Fish are quivering low on the horizon,

and there beyond us runs the road we go

down the dark scarp into the depths below."

11.375 x 8.75 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
October 16, 2020

image 2283

INFERNO, Canto XI, illustration 3

Title: "Master," I said, "the clarity of your mind 

impresses all you touch; I see quite clearly

the orders of this dark pit of the blind."

11.75 x 9.125 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
October 14, 2020

image 2282

INFERNO, Canto XI, illustration 2

Title: "My son," he began, "there are below this wall

three smaller circles, each in its degree

like those you are about to leave, and all

are crammed with God's accurst."

15.75 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint on found paper
October 9, 2020

image 2281

INFERNO, Canto XI, illustration 1

Title: And here the stink

thrown up by the abyss so overpowered us

that we drew back, cowering behind the wall

of one of the great tombs…

11.875 x 8.25 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
October 8, 2020

image 2280

INFERNO, Canto X, illustration 4

Title: "We see asquint, like those whose twisted sight

can make out only the far-off," he said,

"for the King of All still grants us that much light.

When things draw near, or happen, we perceive

nothing of them. Except what others bring us

we have no news of those who are alive."

11.875 x 8.125 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
October 1, 2020

image 2279

INFERNO, Canto X, illustration 3

Title: "But the face of her who reigns in Hell shall not

be fifty times rekindled in its course

before you learn what griefs attend that art."

15.5 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
September 30, 2020

image 2278

INFERNO, Canto X, illustration 2

Title: My eyes were fixed on him already. Erect,

he rose above the flame, great chest, great brow;

he seemed to hold all Hell in disrespect.

15.5 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
September 25, 2020

image 2277

INFERNO, Canto X, illustration 1

Title: "O Tuscan, who go living through this place

speaking so decorously, may it please you pause

a moment on your way, for by the grace

of that high speech in which I hear your birth,

I know you for a son of that noble city

which perhaps I vexed too much in my time on earth."

11.75 x 7.875 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
September 23, 2020

image 2276

INFERNO, Canto IX, illustration 4

Title: ...the uneven tombs cover the even plain -

such fields I saw here, spread in all directions,

except that here the tombs were chests of pain

12.25 x 10.5 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
September 21, 2020

image 2275

INFERNO, Canto IX, illustration 3

Title: Clearly he was a Messenger from God's Throne,

and I turned to my Guide; but he made a sign

that I should keep my silence and bow down.

12.25 x 10.5 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
September 16, 2020

image 2274

INFERNO, Canto IX, illustration 2

Title: ...all at once three hellish and inhuman

Furies sprang to view, bloodstained and wild.

Their limbs and gestures hinted they were women.

15.5 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
September 12, 2020

image 2273

INFERNO, Canto IX, illustration 1

Title: "Once before, it is true, I crossed through Hell

conjured by cruel Erichtho who recalled

the spirits to their bodies. Her dark spell

forced me, newly stripped of my mortal part,

to enter through this gate, and summon out

a spirit from Judaica."

12.25 x 10.5 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
September 9, 2020

image 2272

INFERNO, Canto VIII, illustration 4

Title: "O my beloved Master, my Guide in peril,

who time and time again have seen me safely

along this way, and turned the power of evil

stand by me now," I cried…

16.25 x 11 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
September 7, 2020

image 2271

INFERNO, Canto VIII, illustration 3

Title: Above the gates more than a thousand shades

of spirits purged from Heaven for its glory

cried angrily: "Who is it that invades

Death's Kingdom in his life?"

15.5 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
September 5, 2020

image 2270

INFERNO, Canto VIII, illustration 2

Title: And shortly after, I saw the loathesome spirit

so mangled by a swarm of muddy wraiths

that to this day I praise and thank God for it.

"After Filippo Argenti!" all cried together. 

The maddog Florentine wheeled at their cry

and bit himself for rage.

15.5 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
August 7, 2020

image 2263

INFERNO, Canto VIII, illustration 1

Title: Returning to my theme, I say we came

to the foot of a Great Tower; but long before

we reached it through the marsh, two horns of flame

flared from the summit, one from either side

and then, far off, so far we could scarce see it

across the mist, another flame replied.

11.25 x 10.75 inches
collage and ink on found paper
August 4, 2020

image 2262

INFERNO, Canto VII, illustration 4

Title: They thumped at one another in that slime

with hands and feet, and they butted, and they bit

as if each would tear the other limb from limb.

11.75 x 12.25 inches
acrylic paint and collage on LP cover
July 28, 2020

image 2260

INFERNO, Canto VII, illustration 3

Title: No mortal power may stay her spinning wheel.

The nations rise and fall by her decree. 

None may foresee where she will set her heel…

15.75 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
July 23, 2020

image 2259

INFERNO, Canto VII, illustration 2

Title: Here, too, I saw a nation of lost souls,

far more than were above: they strained their chests

against enormous weights, and with mad howls

rolled them at one another. Then in haste

they rolled them back, one party shouting out:

"Why do you hoard?" and the other: "Why do you waste?"

10.875 x 15.75 inches
acrylic paint, collage, and ink on found paper
July 16, 2020

image 2258

INFERNO, Canto VII, illustration 1

Title: "Papa Satan, Papa Satan, aleppy,"

Plutus clucked and stuttered in his rage…

15.5 x 10.875 inches
acrylic paint and collage on found paper
July 8, 2020

image 2257