Art, Symbol & Imagination
The angel at the gate
A radiant winged figure sits before an arched doorway high in a rock wall. Two robed travellers bow or kneel below the entrance, separated from it by a short ascent. The caption locates the encounter in Purgatory IX and stresses the overwhelming brightness of the angel's face. Doré makes that brightness the centre of an otherwise severe architectural frame. The gate appears as a definite opening, but passage depends upon the meeting at its threshold. The lowered visitors and elevated guardian give permission and reverence a visible relation within the rock's enclosing surface.
Read the source pageLoading your collection…
Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The angel at the gate" [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 67. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/dante-dore-66
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). The angel at the gate. Purgatory and Paradise: The Vision of Dante. Scan leaf 67. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/dante-dore-66