The Vision of Purgatory & Paradise

Gustave Doré's designs carry Dante from the steep paths of purgatory into the radiance of paradise. These prints come from t...

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Gustave Doré's designs carry Dante from the steep paths of purgatory into the radiance of paradise. These prints come from the Cassell edition of The Vision of Purgatory and Paradise published in 1893, which paired Henry Francis Cary's English translation with illustrations after Doré. Souls are met among smoke and flame on rocky ledges, crowded groups give way to luminous celestial figures, and Beatrice and Dante's guides move through an imagined landscape where gesture and setting express spiritual states. The strong contrasts of the engraved line turn the poem into a sequence of dramatic scenes.

Gustave Doré's designs carry Dante from the steep paths of purgatory into the radiance of paradise. These prints come from the Cassell edition of The Vision of Purgatory and Paradise published in 1893, which paired Henry Francis Cary's English translation with illustrations after Doré. Souls are met among smoke and flame on rocky ledges, crowded groups give way to luminous celestial figures, and Beatrice and Dante's guides move through an imagined landscape where gesture and setting express spiritual states. The strong contrasts of the engraved line turn the poem into a sequence of dramatic scenes.

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