Through Botticelli’s Eyes: Analyzing Visual Narratives in the Illustrated Divine Comedy
This paper explores Sandro Botticelli’s Illustrations of Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy, preserved in the Vatican Library. These illustrations are early examples of visual narrative strategies directly tied to modern sequential art. Bridging Renaissance Art to contemporary comic theory, the paper argues that Boticelli utilized visual techniques such as: hierarchical composition, guided reading paths, and localized use of color to convey complex theological content. Drawing on Botticelli’s depiction of key cantos, it also meticulously examines the manuscript's provenance, from Medici patronage to Queen Christina of Sweden, to finally be acquired by the Vatican. This research aims to situate Botticelli as a proto-comic artist whose work changed how the world experiences visual narrative.