Dublin Castle Coach House Gallery reopens with exhibition marking Dante’s 700th anniversary

The Office of Public Works, Dublin Castle, is reopening its doors to visitors today and is inviting them to see a new exhibition in the Coach House Gallery entitled ‘100 Lithographs: Dante’s Divine Comedy by Liam Ó Broin’. Organised in collaboration with the Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Dublin, the exhibition is part of this year’s events marking 700 years since the death of medieval Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Born in Florence in 1265, Dante completed his epic poem The Divine Comedy a year before his death in exile in Ravenna in 1321. His imaginative vision of the afterlife is considered a preeminent work of world literature to this day and trances across three parts – Inferno, Purgatorio and Paradiso –a pilgrim’s journey through hell, purgatory and heaven.

Contemporary Irish artist Liam O'Broin joins a long line of artists stretching back to Giovanni de Paolo, Federico Zuccari and Botticelli who have been fascinated by Dante’s work and have squared up to the task not just of illustrating Dante, but of responding to him. In his studio based near Slane, he has completed the largest printmaking project of its kind ever undertaken in Ireland, producing over the course of 10 years 100 large-scale, vibrant lithographs that grapple with the 100 cantos of Dante’s Divine Comedy.

The exhibition, curated by Brian McAvera, not only showcases the remarkable series of prints but also provides contextual background – artist’s notes, drawings and sources – in a series of display cases. It is accompanied by a 10-minute film, which explains and illuminates the process of lithography and provides a number of ways for the viewer to look at and understand the lithographs. A detailed catalogue accompanies the exhibition and for members of the public who cannot visit the exhibition in person, there is also the opportunity to experience it online at the following link: La Commedia Divina.

‘100 Lithographs: Dante’s Divine Comedy by Liam Ó Broin’ runs from 10 May until 10 October and is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is free and pre-booking is not required. However, admission will be managed in such a way that 2m social distancing can be maintained and it may, therefore, at times be necessary to operate an external queuing system.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

Up-to-date information on the exhibition can be found on Dublin Castle’s events calendar here: What's On

Dublin Castle’s Coach House Gallery and State Apartments is one of several OPW heritage sites now open following the gradual easing of restrictions. To see a full list of OPW historic properties, monuments, museums, parks and gardens that are open, please check here: Heritage Ireland