Art, Symbol & Imagination
Paolo and Francesca Approach Together
Two closely joined figures float above jagged rock, their drapery lifting around their bodies against the dark air. Dante notices a pair carried together through the second circle and asks to speak with them. Doré brings the two bodies forward from the larger storm, giving their closeness a clear visual form. The rocks below provide a stable reference against which the figures appear suspended. The printed caption records Dante's desire to address them. Their identification as Paolo and Francesca comes from the subsequent exchange in the canto; the image should be understood as a literary illustration of that encounter, not a separate account of their lives.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Paolo and Francesca Approach Together" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 49. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-42
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). Paolo and Francesca Approach Together. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 49. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-42