Dantes Plads

Dantes Plads is a square in central Copenhagen, directly adjacent to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, made unmistakably dark by a series of sculptures by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt. The works are inspired by Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and translate medieval visions of Hell into raw, modern imagery.

The most striking elements are the red, flayed-looking pig sculptures — often referred to as the “Red Dante pigs” — which reference greed, corruption, and moral decay. In Dante’s universe, sinners are physically transformed and punished in grotesque, symbolic ways. Galschiøt’s pigs function in the same tradition, using exaggeration and discomfort to force confrontation rather than contemplation.

Unlike subtle memorials or abstract references, the sculptures at Dantes Plads are deliberately confrontational. Their placement in an everyday urban setting collapses the distance between myth and modern life, suggesting that Hell is not somewhere “else,” but something created by human behaviour here and now. This makes Dantes Plads one of Copenhagen’s most conceptually aggressive public spaces — a place where art, literature, and moral accusation intersect.