At the request of the young Dutch banker Thomas Hope, the English draftsman and sculptor John Flaxman (York 1755-London 1826) agreed to execute the illustrations of the Divine Comedy for a fee of three guineas each. During his Italian stay, in which he was dedicated to the study of ancient art, between 1787 and 1794 he created the tables with his essential and linear graphic style, outlining the human figures and strong personalities with a few precise strokes. Flaxman's wife wrote in a letter that Dante's illustrations “are drawn with simple lines, no Shadow, & treated in the beautiful Gothic taste with the Sentiment of the Poet & Artist united”