The Map of Hell

illustration by Botticelli

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July 22, 2026

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Sandro Botticelli's "Map of Hell" is an illustration inspired by Dante Alighieri's epic poem, The Divine Comedy. The poem, written around 1308-1321, describes Dante's fictional journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise.123

Botticelli's "Map of Hell" depicts Hell as a funnel with nine descending levels, corresponding to the nine circles of Hell described in Dante's Inferno. Each circle represents different sins, with punishments tailored to the transgressions. While the illustration shows tiny sinners trapped within these levels, the focus is on the eerie shape of Hell and the suffocating abyss, evoking a sense of claustrophobia rather than explicit torture. This artwork is one of many visual interpretations of Dante's powerful imagery of the afterlife.412

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Ten Depictions of Hell
The Map of Hell (c. 1476–1500) by Sandro Botticelli
In addition, he drew The Map of Hell, perhaps the most disquieting of such illustrations. Here, hell is depicted as a funnel comprising nine major levels, each corresponding to one of Dante’s circles. Within each stratum, tiny sinners are trapped, but, due to their diminutive size, their punishments are…
Read More
In addition, he drew The Map of Hell, perhaps the most disquieting of such illustrations. Here, hell is depicted as a funnel comprising nine major levels, each corresponding to one of Dante’s circles. Within each stratum, tiny sinners are trapped, but, due to their diminutive size, their punishments are…
Read More