Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Hidden Speakers inside the Flames
The travellers stand above scattered tongues of fire that rise separately from the floor of a deep hollow. Virgil explains that each flame encloses a spirit, so the lights conceal individual speakers rather than simply illuminate the pit. Doré gives the flames distinct shapes and leaves large areas of darkness between them, making the concealed company seem dispersed. The forked flame of Ulysses and Diomede is described in the adjacent canto, but this wider view is not a labelled portrait of every counsellor. The engraving turns a punishment organised around deceptive counsel into an image of voices hidden from sight.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Hidden Speakers inside the Flames" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 183. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-176
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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). The Hidden Speakers inside the Flames. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 183. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-176