Art, Symbol & Imagination
Serpents Bind the Inhabitants of the Seventh Ditch
A crowd of bare figures twists among coiling serpents beneath a steep bank watched by the two travellers. Dante describes the inhabitants as unable to find a refuge and as having their hands bound by snakes. Doré makes bodies and coils overlap until the boundary between restraint and movement becomes difficult to separate. The high observers remain clothed and comparatively still, reinforcing their different relation to the terrain. The engraving illustrates the thieves’ ditch in the poem; it is not a zoological account of serpents or a record of a punishment imposed in the historical world.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Serpents Bind the Inhabitants of the Seventh Ditch" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 171. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-164
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full original plate and caption individually inspected; exact neighbouring canto read. Editorial title. Source tone and intrinsic damage retained; rotation applies only to Gallery derivatives.
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Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
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Gustave Doré (design). Serpents Bind the Inhabitants of the Seventh Ditch. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 171. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-164