MatematicArte: la lezione di Galileo Galilei sulla struttura dell’Inferno di Dante MatematicArte: the lesson of Galileo Galilei on structure of Dante’s Inferno

How big is the Hell? How tall is Lucifer? To answer these questions, Antonio Manetti did the calculations and Galileo validated them. Would the students of the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera be able to describe this geometry? Many artists painted scenes about Hell’s episodes, more focusing on the feelings and passions the Hell is steeped in than referring to its geometry. This exhibition is a collaborative work between Paola Magnaghi and Tullia Norando (FDS - Dipartimento di Matematica del Politecnico di Milano) and Alessandra Angelini, artist and professor (Accademia delle Belle Arti di Brera), who presents a group of her students of Graphic, aimed to contribute to the contamination of scientific thoughts and artistic insights. The work is divided into two parts: the first dedicated to mathematical foundations and the second devoted to artistic interpretation. The topics of mathematical lessons are the themes of the opening video. Intrigued by the relationships between geometric design and artistic concept, the students made scale drawings of the Divina Commedia’s Hell, by using both several paper frames types and different art techniques. Later they produced original art works by personal interpretation and unrelated to the scientific explanation. The results reflect various artistic and creative sensibilities: drawings, paintings, engravings. The artistic workshop, conducted by A. Angelini, invites the public to participate by creating own fantasy drawings given a Hell’s framework, as a sort of dream boxes. The drawings can be exhibited as well in the room.