Art, Symbol & Imagination
Geryon Carries the Poets into the Abyss
Two robed figures ride a winged creature whose long tail curls across the open darkness below a rocky wall. Dante describes the fear of leaving the bank and losing sight of everything except the beast beneath him. Doré sets the riders high within an otherwise empty space, making the extended wings and curled tail provide their only visible support. The scene follows the waiting creature’s departure and precedes arrival among the ditches of fraud. The caption fixes the moment of alarm; the plate gives motion and exposure to the poem’s account rather than presenting a literal species or transport system.
Read the source pageLoading your collection…
Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Geryon Carries the Poets into the Abyss" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 127. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-120
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full original plate and caption individually inspected; neighbouring canto read. Editorial title. Source tone and intrinsic damage retained; rotation applies only to Gallery derivatives.
Sources
From the book
Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
All 76 illustrations
Related illustrations
Explore in the Codex
Entries that reference this illustration.
Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). Geryon Carries the Poets into the Abyss. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 127. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-120