Leonardo Frigo is trained as an art restorer and violinist. So it's appropriate that he has reached into the depths of history and literature to tell a great story on that stringed instrument. For four years, he illustrated the first chapter Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" on thirty-three violins and one cello. He writes:
My work comes from deep research that has roots in my passion for reading, for art and, in particular, for the of Dante’s masterpiece. Dante’s Inferno has always inspired me since I was a child, I can probably say that it taught me to imagine and dream.
Therefore, after taking notes and annotations about each canto, I start to search for symbols, names, and illustrations that, put together, tell the story written by Dante. When the final design is clear in my mind, I am ready to paint it by hand, in black ink, on the entire surface of the violin. The instrument is then varnished and installed on its base.
You can see more photos of this work at Bored Panda.
-via Design You Trust