This film is included on "By Brakhage: an Anthology", which is part of the Criterion Collection, spine #184.
The Dante Quartet was inspired by Brakhage's interest in Dante's Divine Comedy, which he had first encountered in high school at the suggestion of his English professor. In the years since, Brakhage had read almost every English translation of the poem that he could find.
The Dante Quartet is divided into four parts, titled Hell Itself, Hell Spit Flexion, Purgation and Existence Is Song.
The Dante Quartet took six years to produce.
The Dante Quartet was originally painted on IMAX and Cinemascope 70mm and 35mm film. It has since been rephotographed onto 35mm and 16mm formats, in which it is now most commonly screened.