Art, Symbol & Imagination
Ephialtes Bound at the Well
Two immense figures rise beside a circular stone enclosure while the much smaller travellers stand on the approach. The caption concerns the giant who tried his strength against supreme authority. In the adjoining canto Virgil names Ephialtes and describes the chain binding his arms and torso. Doré gives the visitors the scale of small marks beside the giants, turning the well into a boundary between ordinary human movement and colossal restraint. The visible company is not labelled figure by figure in the engraving. The entry therefore identifies the episode through the text without assigning every illustrated giant a separate name.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Ephialtes Bound at the Well" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 217. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-210
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full original plate and caption individually inspected; neighbouring canto read. Editorial title. Source tone and intrinsic damage retained; rotation applies only to Gallery derivatives.
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Gustave Doré (design). Ephialtes Bound at the Well. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 217. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-210