Gustave Doré (1832-1883) was a French artist, illustrator, and sculptor. In Italy, he gained endless fame because of his beautiful illustrations of Dante’s Divina Commedia. Born in Strasbourg, France, Doré became a prolific artist renowned for his intricate and imaginative works. Among his most celebrated achievements are his illustrations for Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, Divine Comedy (Commedia). Completed between 1858 and 1868, these illustrations gained Doré widespread recognition and continue to captivate audiences today.
Composed between 1308 and 1321, Divine Comedy is an allegorical poem depicting Dante’s fictional journey through the three realms of the afterlife: Inferno (Hell), Purgatorio (Purgatory), and Paradiso (Heaven). Each realm symbolizes different moral and spiritual states, with Inferno representing sin and its consequences.
Doré’s illustrations for Inferno stand out for their masterful use of line art, intricate details, and dramatic shading. They vividly depict the various landscapes and creatures Dante encounters, from the fiery depths of Hell to the chilling frozen lake of Cocytus. His artistic interpretations brought the poem’s characters and scenes to life, captivating readers with their visual intensity.
Beyond their technical proficiency, Doré’s illustrations imbued Inferno with additional layers of meaning. His choices in composition, symbolism, and character portrayal offered visual interpretations of the poem’s complex themes, such as sin, punishment, redemption, and the human condition.
The Divine Comedy has been a source of inspiration for many artists for centuries. The complete set of Doré’s illustrations for Divine Comedy included 135 images, with 99 dedicated to Inferno. His illustrations were originally published in woodcuts, a printing technique utilizing carved wooden blocks. Doré’s work on Divine Comedy is considered a major contribution to Romanticism, an artistic movement emphasizing emotion, imagination, and individuality.
Doré’s influence extended beyond Divine Comedy. He illustrated numerous other literary classics, including works by Cervantes, Milton, and Coleridge. His illustrations for Cervantes’ Don Quixote and Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner are particularly notable. These works further established his reputation as a leading illustrator of his time.
In addition to his illustrations, Doré was also a sculptor. One of his significant sculptures is the monumental “Triumph of Christianity” located in the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Paris. Despite his success, Doré’s life was not without struggle. He faced financial difficulties and critical disdain from some contemporary art critics who viewed his prolific output with skepticism.
Gustave Doré died on January 23, 1883, in Paris.
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Illustrations of Dante’s Inferno with corresponding verse
Midway upon the journey of our life
I found myself within a forest dark,
For the straightforward pathway had been lost.
And lo! almost where the ascent began,
A panther light and swift exceedingly,
Which with a spotted skin was covered over
Dante meets Roman Poet Virgil
Behold the beast, for which I have turned back;
Do thou protect me from her, famous Sage
Then he moved on,
and I behind him followed.
Day was departing.
Beatrice am I, who do bid thee go
The gate of Hell
Abandon all hope ye who enter here
Charon
And, lo! toward us in a bark,
Comes on an old man, hoary white with eld,
Crying, “Woe to you, wicked spirits!”
Charon herds the sinners onto his boat
Charon the demon, with eyes of glede,
Beckoning to them, collects them all together,
Beats with his oar whoever lags behind.
The Virtuous pagans
Lost are we and only so far punished,
That without hope we live on in desire.
Dante is accepted as an equal by the great Greek and Roman poets
Thus I beheld assemble the fair school
Of that lord of the song pre-eminent,
Who o’er the others like an eagle soars.
Minos judges the sinners.
There standeth Minos horribly, and snarls;
Examins the transgressions at the entrance;
Judges, and sends according to he girds them.
[Each time his tail wraps round the sinner represents one circle further down]
The hurricane of souls
The infernal hurricane that never rests
Hurtles the spirits onwards in its rapine
Canto XV. Dante is interested in why two souls within the hurricane are treated much more gently than all others:
Francesca da Rimini
O Poet, willingly,
Speak would I to those two, who go together,
And seem upon the wind so light.
Francesca da Rimini
Love has conducted us unto one death;
Caina waiteth him who quenched our life
Francesca da Rimini
That day no further we read within
[Francesca di Rimini had an affair with her brother-in-law and both were murdered by her husband.]
I swooned away as if I had been dying,
And fell, even as a dead body falls.
Not all the gold that is beneath the moon,
Or even hath been, or there toil-worn souls,
Might purchase rest for one.
The Severed Head of Bertrand de Born speaks
Canto XXXI
Canto XXXI
Titans and other giants are imprisoned in Hell
Canto XXII
Count Ugolino gnawing the Head of Ruggieri.
Canto XXVIII
Virgil shows Dante the Shade of Thaïs
Canto XXXIV – Lucifer, King of Hell
Megaera, Tisipone, and Alecto
The Thieves tortured by Serpents
Ciampolo escaping from the Demon Alichino
The Minotaur on the Shattered Cliff
The Flaming Spirits of the evil Counsellors
Call thou to mind
Piero of Medicina, if again
Returning, thou behold’st the pleasant land
That from Vercelli slopes to Mercabó.
Canto XXIX
Virgil reproves Dante’s Curiosity
The Hypocrites address Dante
Dante addresses Pope Nicholas III
Harpies in the Forest of Suicides
Mutilated Shades of Mahomet
The Descent of the Abyss on Geryon’s Back
Translation by Henry W. Longfellow, , Published by Arcturus Books, 2007.
Images: http://commons.wikimedia.org/
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These illustrations instantly took me back to when I first discovered Gustave Doré’s work in an old library book. The dramatic shadows and haunting figures made Dante’s journey feel so real. Doré created some of the most famous visual interpretations of Inferno. I even tried a themed design using https://wannabeink.com/products/dantes-inferno-demon-skull-desert-tortured-sould-temporary-sleeve-tattoos
and it captured that same dark, intense feeling.
greetings from a weird italian!
My theory for Dante’s inferno “Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe” as someone illeterate in Italian and latin.
Original Italian: Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!,
cominciò Pluto con la voce chioccia;
e quel savio gentil, che tutto seppe,
disse per confortarmi: “Non ti noccia
la tua paura; ché, poder ch’elli abbia,
non ci torrà lo scender questa roccia.””Pape Satàn, pape Satàn aleppe!”,
cominciò Pluto con la voce chioccia;
e quel savio gentil, che tutto seppe,
disse per confortarmi: “Non ti noccia
la tua paura; ché, poder ch’elli abbia,
non ci torrà lo scender questa roccia.”
Translation:
“Pape Satan, Pape Satan, Aleppe!”
Thus Plutus with his clucking voice began;
And that benignant Sage, who all things knew, (Virgil to Dante)
Said, to encourage me: “Let not thy fear
Harm thee; for any power that he may have
Shall not prevent thy going down this crag.”
(Virgil talks to plutus)
Then he turned round unto that bloated lip,
And said: “Be silent, thou accursed wolf;
Consume within thyself with thine own rage.
Not causeless is this journey to the abyss;
Thus is it willed on high, where Michael wrought
Vengeance upon the proud adultery.”
The thing that started me on this rabbit hole is the theming of the scene. The
idea is that, Dante, a man who only speaks Italian and latin is talking about a Greek god of wealth. Then I thought “why clucking” well to the outside mind schizophrenia in the old days would sound like a chicken.
What if Dante was mistranslating latin/greek/Italian and didn’t know the right words and decided to wing it? It’s 1300AD what are the odds that he spoke Italian and latin with complete and perfect dictionary, but like I said there are no guarantees on this.
That being said what if he meant something along the lines of “papi satan papi satan” if you say the e more percussive(not the right word but close enough) it could sound like an I.
Aleppe could be a mix of prefixes and suffixes approximated. Pe is a latin suffix implying enthusiasm.So far the closest I in Italian is:
allae-eiaménto, M.: lacing; allurement.
(It’d translate as father satan father satan I have a small allurement. Which would sound deranged to Virgil and Dante. Implying insanity)
allampanato [lémpana], aDJ.: emaciated, very thin.
(Implying thin or wasting away).
My third and most likely.
allampàre [lampo], INTR.. burn with thirst (parched).
Thematically A Greek god of financial wealth craving something deep within an Italian written layer of greed; fits absurdly well, but that also means the literal modern day translation would be… (Aw fuck…)
… Daddy satan… Daddy satan… I’m very thirsty… (Said enthusiastically)