Dante’s Inferno. Doré and Rauschenberg

The Canal Foundation will host an exhibition in the Mateo Inurria 2 Hall from 7 October to 5 January 2027 which brings together the two full series of 111 engravings and lithographs that Gustave Doré and Robert Rauschenberg devoted to the Divine Comedy’s Inferno. 

In literature, few places have been portrayed as powerful as Dante’s Inferno.  Its nine circles, teeming with sin, the condemned and eerie landscapes, have been inspiring artists of all eras for centuries.  Written in the early 14th century by the Italian poet and philosopher, Dante Alighieri, this is the first of the three parts of the Divine Comedy, one of the great works of universal literature. 

Curated by Lola Durán Úcar, the exhibition brings together for the first time two complete series that Gustave Doré and Robert Rauschenberg dedicated to Inferno. A total of 111 works created almost a century apart and with the same text may acquire different meanings in accordance with the period and artistic language.

Doré’s 76 wood engravings from the 19th century offer a dramatic, monumental and medieval inspired vision, while the 35 offset lithographs by Rauschenberg, created in the 1960s raise a fragmentary and contemporary interpretation, linking Inferno to the conflicts and society of his time.

The exhibition provides an opportunity to travel through the nine circles of Inferno and check how Dante’s work, written more than seven hundred years ago, still inspires new interpretations and reflects the concerns of different generations.

Image Credit:

• Gustave Doré. Canto V. Minos. Wood engraving. The Art Co., Italy | Robert Rauschenberg. Canto XXXI. The Central Well of Malebolge: The Giants.  Offset lithograph. © 2026 Robert Rauschenberg Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at ARTIST RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NY.