Dead souls is the title of the unfinished novel by Nicolai Gogol which inspired Marc Chagall to create what became one of the most renowned and important illustrated book of the twentieth century.
The story revolves around the adventures of the swindler Chichikov, a small landowner, who tries to make his fortune by dishonest means, going through the Russian countryside and buying the "dead souls" - the names of serfs who had died after the last census - from other landowners.

The ninety-six plates engraved by the Russian master reinterpret Gogol' work and, at the same time, they offer a journey into the territory of humanity, with ample references to the landscapes of Russia and to the personalities of the mother country, even though in actual fact it is an existential excursion into all umanity.
Chagall engraved the first plates in 1924 and finished the work in late 1925.
All plates are exposed at Palazzo Penotti Ubertini, Orta San Giulio (Novara).

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photos by dario cuccato