Art, Symbol & Imagination
Dante Meets Virgil beneath the Trees
Two robed figures stand close together under spreading branches, with a pale strip of distant sky visible beyond them. After the failed ascent, Dante recognises the poet who will become his guide. The forest remains dark, but the figures now form a pair rather than the isolated body seen at the opening. Their turned heads and close spacing make the exchange legible even though the landscape dominates the plate. The caption links Virgil's response to Dante's tears. Doré presents the beginning of guidance as a conversation within the same difficult terrain, before the travellers enter the underworld.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Dante Meets Virgil beneath the Trees" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 22. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-15
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full source plate visually inspected; original scan tone retained. Editorial title. Sideways bound plates turned upright in the derivative only; source and reader unchanged.
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Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
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Gustave Doré (design). Dante Meets Virgil beneath the Trees. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 22. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-15