Art, Symbol & Imagination
Virgil Interrupts Dante’s Prolonged Gaze
The travellers pause above seated and prostrate figures scattered across an uneven expanse of rock. Virgil asks why Dante continues to gaze into the ditch and reminds him that their allotted time is limited. The following conversation concerns a relative whom Dante had not recognised while attending to Bertran. Doré makes the observers’ pause small against a wide field of suffering bodies, stressing the difficulty of moving on from such a spectacle. The caption fixes this moment of admonition; the image does not show every person discussed in the surrounding dialogue.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Virgil Interrupts Dante’s Prolonged Gaze" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 197. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-190
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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Gustave Doré (design). Virgil Interrupts Dante’s Prolonged Gaze. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 197. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-190