Art, Symbol & Imagination
Dante and Virgil at Departing Day
Two figures pause near a slender tree as the last light fades above an open, distant landscape. The second canto begins at the close of day, when other creatures rest and Dante prepares for the labour ahead. Doré replaces the dense forest enclosure with a wider horizon, yet the low light keeps the two travellers uncertain and small. The upright tree provides a visual anchor beside them. The caption names the departing day rather than a particular geographical location. This is a threshold scene: the journey has been accepted, but Dante's doubts about his fitness for it still require an answer.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Dante and Virgil at Departing Day" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 28. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-21
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.
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Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
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Gustave Doré (design). Dante and Virgil at Departing Day. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 28. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-21