Art, Symbol & Imagination
Leviathan in the Created Sea
The creature’s body stretches across the sea like a ridge of land, with its spout rising against the cloudy sky. Smaller animals and rocks in the foreground help establish its extraordinary scale. The caption describes Leviathan seeming a moving land and sending a sea from its trunk. Doré takes that comparison literally in the composition, making the animal almost a piece of geography. Within the creation sequence the plate gives the waters a monumental inhabitant, joining the poem’s account of abundance to a distinctly dramatic image of size and movement.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Leviathan in the Created Sea" [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 209. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/milton-dore-208
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). Leviathan in the Created Sea. Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré. Scan leaf 209. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/milton-dore-208