Art, Symbol & Imagination
Spirits move along the flame
Several bodies rise or turn within a narrow curling fire, with a robed traveller standing nearby in the dark rocky setting. Bright edges of flame separate the figures from the enclosing shadow. The caption places the episode in Purgatory XXV, where the traveller divides his gaze between his footsteps and the souls in the fire. Doré makes the flame a route as well as an enclosure, its moving contours repeating the gestures of the bodies. The surrounding darkness keeps the scene concentrated upon that precarious passage rather than opening it into a broad landscape.
Read the source pageLoading your collection…
Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Spirits move along the flame" [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 159. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/dante-dore-158
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Original source design and caption inspected; composition retained with scan margins trimmed. No reconstructed or recoloured details.
Sources
From the book
Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of DanteDante Alighieri; translated by Henry Francis Cary; illustrated by Gustave Doré1901More from this book
All 60 illustrations
Related illustrations
Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). Spirits move along the flame. Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante. Scan leaf 159. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/dante-dore-158