Art, Symbol & Imagination
Scintillating circles of angels
Two small robed figures face immense curved ranks of winged figures extending across the sky. The caption compares the circles throwing out sparks with iron in a furnace. Its exact matching passage occurs in Paradiso XXVIII, where Beatrice explains the relation between the angelic circles and the heavenly order. This plate is physically bound among Purgatory pages in the supplied volume, so adjacent text would give a wrong identification. Doré makes the circling ranks overwhelm the observers' scale, retaining the impression's pale, worn printing rather than inventing brighter details.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Scintillating circles of angels" [editorial title]. In Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante, Dante Alighieri; translated by Henry Francis Cary; illustrated by Gustave Doré. New edition, 1901, 1901, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 147. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/dante-dore-146
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full plate and printed caption individually viewed. Matching canto passage read; misplaced bindings identified by caption, not physical adjacency. Original tone and printing wear retained.
Sources
From the book
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of DanteDante Alighieri; translated by Henry Francis Cary; illustrated by Gustave Doré1901More from this book
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Gustave Doré (design). Scintillating circles of angels. Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante. Scan leaf 147. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/dante-dore-146