Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Scourging in the First Ditch
Armed, winged figures raise lashes over an exposed procession, while two cloaked travellers watch from the bank. The first ditch of Malebolge contains the company Dante accuses of exploiting others through sexual brokerage and seduction. Doré makes the raised lashes cross the direction of the moving bodies, creating a rhythm of repeated threat. The poets occupy a higher and calmer position on the bank. This is the poem’s imagined punishment, not a historical record of a particular institution or community. The source’s sideways plate is rotated only in the Gallery derivative, with its separate printed caption kept in the source reference.
Read the source pageLoading your collection…
Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Scourging in the First Ditch" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 128. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-121
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
Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). The Scourging in the First Ditch. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 128. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-121