Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Company of Ancient Poets
A group of robed men gathers in a dark grove; standing figures face one another while others sit at either side. Dante encounters the great poets whom Virgil names in the fourth canto. The illustration gives their assembly the form of a measured conversation, set apart from the surrounding darkness. The figures' differing postures create a semicircle rather than a procession. The caption refers to the bright school of the supreme poet. The literary identities come from the canto's account; the engraving itself does not label every face. This scene places Dante's poetic ambition within an imagined fellowship of classical predecessors.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Company of Ancient Poets" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 42. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-35
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
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Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
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Entries that reference this illustration.
- Homer in the Company of PoetsThe supreme poet who leads the classical company greeting Virgil in Limbo.
- Horace in Dante’s LimboThe poet named Flaccus, praised for satire within the classical company.
- Lucan in Dante’s LimboThe last poet named in the classical company that welcomes Dante as a sixth member.
- Ovid in Dante’s LimboThe poet named Naso, standing third in the company that receives Dante.
- The Seven-Walled Castle of LimboThe bright enclosure where Dante encounters the honoured figures of antiquity.
Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). The Company of Ancient Poets. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 42. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-35