Art, Symbol & Imagination
Dante in Profile
A laurel-crowned portrait shows Dante in profile, his long head covering and layered robes outlined against a dark background. The frontispiece identifies the poet before the illustrated journey begins. Its close framing and regular engraved lines establish a recognisable human face, quite different from the small wandering figure in the forest scenes that follow. The laurel presents Dante as a poet; this is a nineteenth-century book illustration, not a portrait made from life. The caption supplies his name, while the surrounding title page credits the designs to Gustave Doré.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Dante in Profile" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 8. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-2
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full source plate visually inspected; original scan tone retained. Editorial title. Sideways bound plates turned upright in the derivative only; source and reader unchanged.
Sources
From the book
Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
All 76 illustrations
Related illustrations
Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). Dante in Profile. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 8. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-2