DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.36582#0609
136
THE DOR& GALLERY.
PLATE CCXXXV.
THE NINTH HEAVEN.
The passage here illustrated occurs in the “Paradiso” of Dante, where the poet and
Beatrice, being in the ninth heaven, see countless circles of blessed spirits spreading around
them, and—
“ Not unlike
To iron in the furnace, every cirque,
Ebullient, shot forth scintillating fires.” Canto XX VIII., lines 80—82.
Most amazingly has the artist conveyed the impression of infinite numbers and illimitable
space.
PLATE CCXXXVI.
MARY MAGDALENE REPENTANT.
This very noble figure and grand bit of desert landscape are in illustration of the story
of Mary Magdalene, alluded to in various chapters of the New Testament. The Magdalene
is seen in the days of her repentance, and is certainly here represented with a greater
fidelity to the general conception of the character than in the lovely but too placid picture
by Correggio.
PLATE CCXXXVIL
THE TEMPEST OF HELL.
Having passed by the terrible judge, Minos, Dante says he arrived at a place of great
darkness and horror.
“ Bellowing, there groan’d
A noise as of a sea in tempest torn
By warring winds. The stormy blast of Hell
With restless fury drives the spirits on,
Whirl’d round and dash’d amain with sore annoy.”
Inferno, Canto V, lines 30—34.
It is here, among the eddying circles of spirits driven about in the ceaseless infernal
tempest, that Dante discovers the tormented souls of Paolo and Francesca, as already
related (Plate CXCI.). Nothing can be more gloomy and Tartarean than the picture
before us.
THE DOR& GALLERY.
PLATE CCXXXV.
THE NINTH HEAVEN.
The passage here illustrated occurs in the “Paradiso” of Dante, where the poet and
Beatrice, being in the ninth heaven, see countless circles of blessed spirits spreading around
them, and—
“ Not unlike
To iron in the furnace, every cirque,
Ebullient, shot forth scintillating fires.” Canto XX VIII., lines 80—82.
Most amazingly has the artist conveyed the impression of infinite numbers and illimitable
space.
PLATE CCXXXVI.
MARY MAGDALENE REPENTANT.
This very noble figure and grand bit of desert landscape are in illustration of the story
of Mary Magdalene, alluded to in various chapters of the New Testament. The Magdalene
is seen in the days of her repentance, and is certainly here represented with a greater
fidelity to the general conception of the character than in the lovely but too placid picture
by Correggio.
PLATE CCXXXVIL
THE TEMPEST OF HELL.
Having passed by the terrible judge, Minos, Dante says he arrived at a place of great
darkness and horror.
“ Bellowing, there groan’d
A noise as of a sea in tempest torn
By warring winds. The stormy blast of Hell
With restless fury drives the spirits on,
Whirl’d round and dash’d amain with sore annoy.”
Inferno, Canto V, lines 30—34.
It is here, among the eddying circles of spirits driven about in the ceaseless infernal
tempest, that Dante discovers the tormented souls of Paolo and Francesca, as already
related (Plate CXCI.). Nothing can be more gloomy and Tartarean than the picture
before us.