University of Limerick proudly presents 'The Divine Comedy' by Samuel Walsh, an awe-inspiring collection inspired by Dante Alighieri's eternal masterpiece.
Samuel Walsh is a leading figure in Irish abstract art. Born in Wimbledon, London in England in 1951 to Irish parents (his mother is from Limerick and his father is from Ennis), Samuel Walsh was educated in London and in Limerick where he attended Villiers Secondary School. He lived in Limerick from 1968 to 1990 and currently lives and works in Co Clare.
Walsh studied art at the Limerick School of Art and Philosophy at Mary Immaculate College of Education, Limerick. He took his MFA at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin.
In a remarkable gesture of generosity, Walsh has donated this significant body of work to the University of Limerick's Art Collections.
INFERNO
![Canto 1](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20001%2C%202002%20.JPG.webp?itok=8v6vweye)
Dante is lost in a valley. He makes towards a sunlit hillside, but finding his way barred by three wild animals, turns for help to Virgil.
![Canto 2](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20002%2C%202002-2003%20.JPG.webp?itok=RzUJzhaE)
Virgil’s account of his commission as Dante’s guide.
![Canto 3](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20003%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=U5Z7-gQO)
Dante and Virgil pass through the Gate of Hell, into the vestibule of the uncommitted and the pusillanimous, to arrive at the river Acheron.
![Canto 4](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20004%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=g_RX78dn)
Dante and Virgil enter the First Circle of Hell, Limbo, containing souls of unbaptised children, virtuous pagans, and the great castle of the famed.
![Canto 5](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20005%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=wTT7YFJG)
The poets make their way past Minos and then to the Circle of the Promiscuous.
![Canto 6](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20006%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=nyfSOcmQ)
Dante recovers from a swoon to find himself in the Third Circle of the Gluttonous.
![Canto 7](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20007%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=tU4MAqCn)
Dante and Virgil proceed into the Fourth Circle of the Moneygrubbing and Wasteful. Virgil expatiates on Fortune, and the two poets enter the Fifth Circle of the Wrathful and the Sullen, in the lagoons of the Styx.
![Canto 8](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20008%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=FO5AcN5j)
Dante and Virgil pass over the lagoons of the river Styx in Phlegy’s ferry. They arrive at the Gates of Lower Hell, the City of Dis.
![Canto 9](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20009%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=xN6qnJfl)
Dante and Virgil, prevented from entering the City of Dis by hostile demons, have the gates opened for them by a heavenly messenger. They enter to find themselves in the Sixth Circle of Heretics and Sceptics.
![Canto 10](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20010%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=syzjNH3c)
Dante and Virgil enter the Sixth Circle of the Heretics and Sceptics.
![Canto 11](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20011%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=MXeV9YId)
While pausing before the descending into the abyss of Lower Hell, Virgil teaches Dante the plan and rationale of Hell.
![Canto 12](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20012%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=MEOz0b3k)
Dante and Virgil descend into the Seventh Circle of the Violent.
![Canto 13](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20013%2C%202002-2003.JPG.webp?itok=8GfFWc1M)
Dante and Virgil enter into the Second Round of the Violent, the wood of the suicides and squanderers.
![Canto 14](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20014%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=quTymqYp)
The two poets enter the Third Round of the Seventh Circle, where on burning sands the violent against God, Nature, and her bounty are punished.
![Canto 15](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20015%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=pQJttHwz)
In the Third Round of the Seventh Circle, Dante encounters an old teacher amongst the sinners guilty of sexual perversions.
![Canto 16](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20016%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=Ww190X8s)
On the burning sands of the Third Round of the Seventh Circle, Dante encounters three more Florentines guilty of sexual perversion.
![Canto 17](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20017%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=g-2ghBpm)
Dante talks with the soul of an extortionate banker and he meets Geryon a Manticore.
![Canto 18](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20018%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=-mx92xhG)
The Eighth Circle of Hell, Dante discloses, is called Malebolge, divided into ten valleys.
![Canto 19](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20019%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=RGtdOjxE)
In the third valley of Malebolge, Dante meets those clergy guilty of simony.
![Canto 20](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20020%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=8JXn5SS_)
In the fourth valley of Malebolge, Dante meets some futurologists.
![Canto 21](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20021%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=3medhYCO)
From the natural bridge across the fifth valley of Malebolge, Dante sees the soul of a Lucchese guilty of corruption. Barrators are hurled by a devil into boiling pitch.
![Canto 22](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20022%2C%202002-2004_0.JPG.webp?itok=avLV9VRb)
A damned soul is fished out of the boiling tar of the fifth valley of Malebolge by the demons.
![Canto 23](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20023%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=Ypwj97Ng)
Pursued by the Malebranche, and unable to find a bridge intact across the next valley of Malebolge, Dante and Virgil escape their clutches by descending hastily to the floor of the sixth cleft.
![Canto 24](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20024%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=VvjTCFsa)
Dante and Virgil proceed to a vantagepoint from where they can observe the inhabitants of the seventh cleft.
![Canto 25](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20025%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=x9hUUC4t)
Dante and Virgil observe the hideous transformation of five of the souls of the thieves, all Florentines, in the seventh circle of Malebolge.
![Canto 26](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20026%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=7RS1isZd)
In the eight cleft of Malebolge, amongst the advisors of deceit and stratagems [souls guilty of the fraudulent use of intellect and eloquence], Dante hears the tale of a fatal voyage.
![Canto 27](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20027%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=_XOfSmlQ)
In the eight cleft of Malebolge, Dante encounters another advisor of stratagems.
![Canto 28](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20028%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=ck_NiEmq)
Dante looks down into the ninth valley of Malebolge, where the instigators of scandal and schism are punished.
![Canto 29](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20029%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=OjgjhvjP)
In the tenth valley of Malebolge, where the falsifiers are punished, Dante talks with two alchemists.
![Canto 30](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20030%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=1Yi9HjyU)
Amongst the falsifiers, Dante sees the souls of two impersonators.
![Canto 31](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20031%2C%202002-2004.JPG.webp?itok=B0dhaUB3)
Leaving Malebolge, Dante and Virgil encounter the giants who guard the Ninth Circle.
![Canto 32](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20032%2C%202002-2005.JPG.webp?itok=HuNzAEhF)
In Cocytus, the Ninth Circle of Hell, where the treacherous are punished, Dante and Virgil pass through the zone of Caina, where those guilty of treachery to family and relatives are gathered.
![Canto 33](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20033%2C%202002-2005.JPG.webp?itok=xW9DxHCV)
In the second zone of Cocytus, Antenora, Dante hears a story of treachery.
![Canto 34](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-07/Canto%20034%2C%202002-2005.JPG.webp?itok=yvLxT6F7)
Dante and Virgil enter Judecca, the lowest zone of Cocytus, where the souls who betrayed their legitimate superiors and benefactors are totally immersed in the frozen waste. At the central and lowest point lies Satan. Virgil and Dante make their escape to the earth’s surface.
PURGATORIO
![1 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/1st%20Cornice%2C%202004.JPG.webp?itok=An_KapLK)
Dante and Virgil, on the First Cornice of Purgatory, find its wall sculptured with scenes exemplifying humility, and encounter the souls of the proud. On the Cornice of the Proud, Dante hears the souls intoning the Lord’s Prayer. Still on the Cornice of the Proud, Dante firstly pauses to examine the scenes sculptured in bas-relief on the path which depict the downfall of the arrogant, and then submits himself to the guardian angel of the cornice.
![2 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/2nd%20Cornice%2C%202004.JPG.webp?itok=tAS4LxL7)
On the Second Cornice, where the sin of envy is purged, the poets hear the disembodied voices recalling exempla of charity. On the Cornice of the Envious, as Dante and Virgil ascend, the disembodied voices are heard again. The guardian angel of the Cornice of the Envious absolves Dante, who with Virgil ascends to the Third Cornice.
![3 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/3rd%20Cornice%2C%202004.JPG.webp?itok=wP-l9fJ8)
Enveloped by smoke on the Cornice of the Angry, Dante and Virgil hear the Agnes Dei recited. On the Third Cornice, Dante is subject to visions of exempla of anger.
![4 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/4th%20Cornice%2C%202004.JPG.webp?itok=xyin2sjs)
Prompted by Dante, Virgil explains to him the nature of love and, as far as he is able to discern, its relation to the concept of free will. In the early hours of the morning of the third day in Purgatory, on the Fourth Cornice, Dante dreams he is confronted by a Siren.
![5 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/5th%20Cornice%2C%202005.JPG.webp?itok=uF6Zr_v2)
On the Fifth Cornice, Dante hears the souls of the avaricious and the wasters recite examples of true liberality. An earthquake shakes the mountain. Virgil and Dante encounter another poet.
![6 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/6th%20Cornice%2C%202005.JPG.webp?itok=2a8_ygMu)
Dante and Virgil hear a voice issuing from a tree enjoining moderation, and provide examples of the virtue. On the Sixth Cornice a friend of Dante’s from Florence castigates the women of Florence for their immodest dress! Passing by a second tree on the cornice, Dante submits to the Angel of Temperance.
![7 Cornice](/sites/default/files/styles/width_of_content_area/public/2024-07/7th%20Cornice%2C%202005-2006.JPG.webp?itok=Jwlsa8TQ)
On arriving upon the next cornice the three poets hear the souls of the sexually promiscuous, purged in fire, recite examples of chastity. Dante meets another poet and talks with him amongst the souls of the sexually promiscuous. Dante submits to the guardian angel of the Seventh Cornice of the Promiscuous, and with Virgil and another poet passes through its flames. Virgil then offers his last advice to Dante.
PARADISO
![Paradiso](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2024-08/Paradiso.png.webp?itok=0pjLFRHK)