Art, Symbol & Imagination
At the Gate of Hell
Dante and Virgil approach a massive opening in a rocky landscape, dwarfed by its height and surrounding darkness. The entrance carries the poem's declaration that those who pass within must abandon hope. Doré places the travellers low in the composition so that the architecture and rock face dominate their approach. The bright sky outside contrasts with the blackness of the opening, making the boundary easy to see without revealing what lies beyond. The source caption belongs to the gate's inscription. The scene concerns entry into Dante's literary Hell and should not be read as a photograph or a universal map of an afterlife.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "At the Gate of Hell" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 32. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-25
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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Gustave Doré (design). At the Gate of Hell. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 32. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-25