Art, Symbol & Imagination
A thousand splendours approach
A luminous company descends through clouds towards the foreground, where several draped figures become individually visible. Rays fill the upper distance. The printed verse describes more than a thousand splendours drawing towards the visitors in the sphere of Mercury. Doré renders the lights as human forms, preserving a sense of countless movement while allowing a few faces and gestures to emerge. The plate makes a celestial gathering legible as an approaching community.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "A thousand splendours approach" [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 213. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/dante-dore-212
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Source plate inspected individually; printed canto and lines checked independently of binding position. Editorial title; original scan tone retained.
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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). A thousand splendours approach. Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante. Scan leaf 213. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/dante-dore-212