Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Furies Appear above the Poets
Three winged, snake-haired figures rise over a dark rock wall while the two travellers stand beneath them, looking upward. Virgil names Megaera, Alecto and Tisiphone as the Furies appear at the burning tower. Doré makes the threatening bodies dominate the upper space, their wings and outstretched limbs breaking the edge of the architecture. The poets stand close below, reinforcing the difference in height and power. The source caption calls attention to the Erynnis. The image illustrates these figures in Dante’s scene at Dis; it does not claim that their appearance is the standard form used in every ancient account of the Furies.
Read the source pageLoading your collection…
Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Furies Appear above the Poets" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 77. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-70
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full original plate and caption visually inspected. Editorial title; original scan tone and intrinsic damage retained. Sideways plates rotated in the Gallery derivative only.
Sources
From the book
Dante's InfernoDante AlighieriUndated editionMore from this book
All 76 illustrations
Related illustrations
Explore in the Codex
Entries that reference this illustration.
Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). The Furies Appear above the Poets. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 77. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-70