Art, Symbol & Imagination
Agnello Loses His Separate Shape
Serpents wrap around reclining and struggling human forms below the two upright observers on the rocky slope. The caption names Agnello as a six-footed serpent fastens itself upon him and the two bodies begin to merge. The surrounding text compares their changing outlines to wax melting together and paper darkening before it burns. Doré sets the transformation among other entwined figures, allowing the visual confusion of limbs to echo the loss of a stable identity. The Gallery follows the specific episode rather than presenting the scene as a general illustration of every metamorphosis in the seventh ditch.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Agnello Loses His Separate Shape" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 172. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-165
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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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Gustave Doré (design). Agnello Loses His Separate Shape. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 172. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-165