Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Centaurs Halt the Descent
Three bow-bearing centaurs turn toward the descending poets beside a river occupied by half-submerged figures, with a dark rocky height behind them. The centaurs demand to know which punishment brings the newcomers into their guarded region. Doré arranges the armed bodies across the foreground so that the river and its suffering inhabitants remain visible behind them. The travellers appear small and elevated, making the encounter a challenge from below. The caption gives the first shouted question. In the poem these figures patrol the river of blood and restrain those who rise too far; their literary office is distinct from a general history of centaurs in Greek mythology.
Read the source pageLoading your collection…
Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Centaurs Halt the Descent" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 95. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-88
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 Centaurs Halt the Descent. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 95. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-88