Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Prophet Slain by a Lion
A great lion sits above a body beside a donkey and a distant traveller on a narrow path. Doré gives the animal a still upright posture instead of picturing a struggle. The human body lies almost horizontally beneath it, while the calm sky makes the aftermath unusually stark. The caption identifies the unnamed prophet’s death. The image’s tension lies in the unlikely arrangement of predator, body and unharmed beast of burden, preserving the narrative’s strange stillness rather than explaining it away.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Prophet Slain by a Lion" [editorial title]. In The Bible Gallery, Gustave Dore; Talbot W. Chambers. Undated Cassell & Company edition; one hundred illustrations with supplied descriptive letterpress, undated edition, Cassell & Company, Limited. Source scan leaf 165. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/bible-dore-164
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Complete plate reviewed against the scan; printed caption supplies subject. Crop excludes surrounding paper and separate caption without changing scan tone. Letterpress theology is not adopted as historical proof.
Sources
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The Bible GalleryGustave Dore; Talbot W. ChambersUndated editionMore from this book
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Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). The Prophet Slain by a Lion. The Bible Gallery. Scan leaf 165. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/bible-dore-164