Art, Symbol & Imagination
Life Emerges in the Waters
The foreground reptiles lie close to the water, their heavy bodies contrasting with the small birds in the sky. Waves and rocky edges divide the newly populated scene into different habitats. Milton’s caption gives the command for living creatures in the waters and fowl above the Earth. Doré imagines creation as a landscape already crowded with animal forms rather than as a diagram of successive orders. The plate belongs to Raphael’s account of the making of the world, expanding the narrative from human listeners towards the variety of nonhuman life.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Life Emerges in the Waters" [editorial title]. In Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré, John Milton; illustrated by Gustave Doré; edited by Henry C. Walsh. Undated John W. Lovell Company edition; exact publication year unverified, undated edition, John W. Lovell Company. Source scan leaf 208. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/milton-dore-207
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Full source plate, printed verse caption and surrounding poem reviewed. Editorial title; original scan tonality retained. Over-dark plates excluded.
Sources
From the book
Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave DoréJohn Milton; illustrated by Gustave Doré; edited by Henry C. WalshUndated editionMore from this book
All 40 illustrations
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Cite this illustration
Gustave Doré (design). Life Emerges in the Waters. Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré. Scan leaf 208. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/milton-dore-207