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Dante Garden
The Dante Garden or The Dante Sculpture Park is a sculpture garden located on the campus of the University of St. Michael's College in Toronto, Ontario. The garden consists of 100 bronze page-like relief sculptures created by Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz. Each of the sculptures depict a single powerful scene from each canto of Dante Alghieri's Divine Comedy, creating and "open-air book". In the center of the garden is a life-sized sculpture of Dante hunched over, appearing to write the first canto which he holds in his hand.

The Dante Garden is freely accessible to the public and is intended to provide a visual read or walk through of all three poems of the Divine Comedy, giving equal attention to Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Heaven). University President David Sylvester says the installation, in a prominent location in downtown Toronto and visible to passersby, will serve as an introduction to Dante for many, and will provide a spot for people to stop in the midst of their day to ponder some of life’s biggest questions.

Schmalz describes the tour of the garden as a unique experience where one can be with nature and enjoy Dante’s epic poem. "Contrary to how most people experience the Divine Comedy - usually in a library or study - the Dante Garden provides a natural outdoor environment where one can actually walk through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The viewer will have their own journey following Dante’s path."

History
In 2021, Schmalz undertook the expansive project to celebrate Dante Alighieri, creating an anthology of pieces representing the first sculptural interpretation of the entire work of the Divine Comedy in 700 years. The project began under COVID-19 restrictions, where Schmalz was essentially “locked away” in his studio in Ontario and had the time for the massive undertaking. Schmalz noted when Dante wrote the Divine Comedy, he was in exile from his native Florence. “I am sculpting it while all the world is in social isolation, in a sense, in exile,” Schmalz said.

On Sept 8, 2021 Canto 1 of Inferno, the first of the cantos to be cast in bronze, was presented to Pope Francis at the Vatican.

Florence, Italy
On September 14, 2021, the date Dante is believed to have died in 1321, Schmalz completed the 100th sculpture, Canto 33 of Paradise, in person at the Badia Florentia. The event was both open to the public and lived streamed for all to watch the sculptor work. Later, a life-sized sculpture of Dante was installed at the Badia Florentia with many cantos scattered throughout the Monastery.

Cambridge University, UK
On July 5, 2022, The Dante sculpture, holding Canto 1 of Inferno was officially unveiled at 2 Adams Road, Robinson College, Cambridge University, UK. . A reception was held in the Adams Road Garden to celebrate the arrival of the new work of art. The programme included readings from Dante’s Divine Comedy, in both English and Italian, the singing of two of the psalms that are of central importance in Dante’s text and a short address introducing Dante’s work and its sculptural representation by Professor Robin Kirkpatrick, a Life Fellow of Robinson College, Emeritus Professor in English and Italian Literature.

University of Toronto, Canada
Spring of 2022, the complete work - the Dante sculpture and all 100 cantos - were installed on the southwest corner of University of Toronto's St. Michael’s campus. The only current location for the entire set of the Divine Comedy's sculptural interpretation.

About Each Canto
There are 100 cantos in the poem, which have previously been represented in etchings and drawings by the likes of Sandro Botticelli, Gustave Doré and William Blake, but Schmalz would be the first to represent the full poem through sculpture.

The format of the pieces is relatively small: page-like, two feet tall and one foot wide. The benefit of this is that they are intimate enough that people can read them visually, almost like a page, and also when you are dealing with 100 sculptures, that size is ideal. The sculptures are large enough to hold detailed narrations while small enough to still retain intimacy.