Dante Alighieri. Colour lithograph, 1859, after S.S. Kirkup after a fresco attributed to Giotto.

[London] (24 Old Bond Street) : Arundel Society, [1859] ([London] : Vincent Brooks, Chromolith.)

1 print : lithograph, printed in colours ; image 43.8 x 32 cm

Dante. Facsimile of a portrait by Giotto discovered in 1841 in the Bargello at Florence. From a facsimile tracing by Seymour Kirkup Esq. made previously to the restoration of the fresco, and now the property of the Rt. Honble. Lord Vernon.

E.H. Gombrich, 'Giotto's portrait of Dante?', The Burlington magazine, 1979, 121: 471-483, p. 472 ("the famous print published by the Arundel Society")

Wellcome Collection 30622i

After a drawing in the collection of George John Warren Venables-Vernon, 5th Baron Vernon (1803-1866). "As a youth, Vernon was taken to Italy, and later returned to live in Florence, where he studied the Italian language and history. His whole life was devoted to Dante, to whom he erected a noble literary monument. With the advice and help of friends and collaborators, he printed (though not for sale) some then unedited texts and two important works. The first of these was Le prime quattro edizioni della Divina Commedia letteralmente ristampate, London, 1858, a careful reprint of the first editions of Dante's Divine comedy, edited by Sir Anthony Panizzi with a learned preface. This was followed by a remarkable publication, L' Inferno di Dante Alighieri disposto in ordine grammaticale e corredato di brevi dichiarazioni di G. G. Warren, Lord Vernon, London, 1858–1865, 3 vols. folio, of which only a limited number of copies were issued for private circulation" (Wikipedia, September 2023)