The Abyss of Hell

The Abyss of Hell is one of the most famous artworks from Botticelli's Divine Comedy series of sketches

This artist took the rare step of choosing to provide illustrations for a manuscript, something famous artists at that time would consider beneath them. He would produce nearly on hundred drawings to accompany the "poems" of Dante's Divine Comedy.

Each work was labelled a Canto, which in Italian translates as an individual song. Within the manuscript each drawing would sit alongside the relevant article in a double page spread.

It was this series of work which helped to raise the artist's profile as a draughtsman, having already established his name within the painting medium. The vast majority of his remaining drawings are from this series, with just a few study sketches for final frescos left.

The Abyss of Hell by Sandro Botticelli is essentially a map of the various depths of Hell leading up to Earth. Dante described it as a cave, created when Lucifer was thrown out of Heaven by God. It is beautiful to see classic literature visually represented by one of the finest Renaissance artists, but sadly this was a rare event.