Art, Symbol & Imagination
Shelter behind the Monument Lid
The travellers stand close to a broad stone lid on a steep rocky edge, with dark vapour rising from the hollow below them. Dante and Virgil pause at the edge of the lower circles to grow accustomed to the overwhelming smell. Doré makes the protective lid a large block between the people and the abyss, its pale upper plane cutting across the darker rock. The short caption identifies the place where they stand retired. This pause also creates time for Virgil’s explanation of the punishments below. The plate records a practical interruption of the journey, allowing an architectural fragment to become a temporary shelter rather than merely a grave marker.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Shelter behind the Monument Lid" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 89. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-82
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.
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Gustave Doré (design). Shelter behind the Monument Lid. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 89. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-82