Paolo and Francesca (The Damned)

Angelo Dall'Oca Bianca revives in the work "Paolo and Francesca (The Damned)" (1925-1941) a subject of Dante that met with great success between the second half of the 19th century and the early years of the 20th century. Protagonists of an overwhelming, cross-cutting modern mythology, between the Romantic Age, Symbolism and Decadent period, the two young lovers inspired artists and writers. In the fifth canto of "Inferno" the souls of those who in life have been carried away by instinct instead of by reason are unceasingly swept away by opposing winds. Among these damned, Paolo and Francesca wander eternally bound, condemned to the punishment of lustful for ecstasy and the torment of an impossible love. Dall'Oca Bianca re-elaborates the symbolist language used in the late 19th century and depicts lovers wrapped in a sensual embrace, suspending them in an somber atmosphere in which eros and thanatos come together, immersed in the dimension of the dream and imagination.