Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Alchemists Scrape at Their Skin
The travellers stand beside seated figures whose bent arms and hands work against their exposed bodies on the rocky floor. The source compares the inhabitants’ scraping to a knife removing scales from fish. The surrounding speech introduces the alchemists Griffolino and Capocchio, but Doré’s plate concentrates on the repeated physical action. Bent backs and close hands make the scene cramped even where the bank opens behind it. The Gallery describes the punishment as Dante’s literary association with falsifying metals, without making a clinical claim or identifying every illustrated body from the neighbouring dialogue alone.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Alchemists Scrape at Their Skin" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 203. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-196
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). The Alchemists Scrape at Their Skin. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 203. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-196