Art, Symbol & Imagination
Satan Approaches the Earth
The dark wings cut across a luminous atmosphere, directing the eye towards the world beneath them. The figure remains small beside the planetary prospect, so the approach becomes an encounter with a new scale of space. The caption places Satan’s flight towards the Earth after the passage through Chaos and the exploration of the created universe. Doré makes light itself part of the landscape, with radiating bands opposing the traveller’s dark silhouette. The scene shifts the poem from the rebels’ realm towards the place where their hostility will find a human target.
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Citation
Gustave Doré (design). "Satan Approaches the Earth" [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 78. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/milton-dore-77
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). Satan Approaches the Earth. Paradise Lost: Illustrated by Gustave Doré. Scan leaf 78. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/milton-dore-77