Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Centaurs Patrol the River of Blood
A company of centaurs carries raised bows and arrows along a rocky bank while small human heads emerge from the dark river behind them. The poets draw near the armed patrol, and Virgil identifies Nessus, Chiron and Pholus in the surrounding account. Doré gives the hybrid bodies a sense of forward movement through diagonally placed legs, lifted weapons and turning heads. Their scale contrasts with the submerged inhabitants of the river. The caption marks the travellers’ approach to the group. The picture illustrates the patrol as a company; it does not label every individual figure well enough to establish a separate visual identity for each named centaur.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "The Centaurs Patrol the River of Blood" [editorial title]. In Dante's Inferno, Dante Alighieri. New Edition, undated supplied scan, undated edition, Thompson & Thomas. Source scan leaf 96. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/inferno-dore-89
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). The Centaurs Patrol the River of Blood. Dante's Inferno. Scan leaf 96. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/inferno-dore-89