Lucifer,+King+of+Hell

== = = =Lucifer, King of Hell=

At the center of Hell is Lucifer, also called Satan. If the //Inferno// is a tour of Hell, seeing Lucifer is the main attraction. The reader and viewer are eager to see how the author of all evil is portrayed. Dore's version is almost tame by modern standards of goriness, though Dante's text more than makes up for this by describing how Satan is perpetually gnawing on the screaming heads of humanity's three greatest traitors.



Visual Cues
The main figure in the picture is Lucifer. Our eyes are drawn to him because the right side of the frame shows largely blank platforms with the scattered bodies of various tortured people. The lines that form the outside of Lucifer's wings are the main focusing aspect in the illustration. The lines come from the edges of the frame and arch toward the head of Lucifer. At first glance, it may seem like he's merely resting his head on his hands, but the text reminds us that he is chewing on several people. Dore doesn't show the gruesome scene in all its detail, preferring to leave the bloody parts more to the imagination. However, he does provide a suitable ruler in Hell as a half-frozen, winged giant.

Dore's caption points our attention to the landscape, though. Dis, mentioned in the caption, is the captial city of Hell. Here is where the worst of the worst in history reside. Deliberate acts of treachery are the worst offense in Dante's Hell probably because he needed to find a way to put Judas (the disciple who betrayed Jesus) as the greatest sinner of all. While our eyes are first drawn to Lucifer, we also gaze around the frame to see the tortured people mostly clumped at the bottom of the frame. These draw our attention because they remind us of a key point in the text that is not immediately evident in Dore's illustration. The city of Dis is made of ice. Dore's only hint at this is the reflection of Satan in the ice where his elbows meet the ice. The group of carrot-looking objects on and in the plain in front of Lucifer are meant to be people in various positions of being frozen above and below the ice in the city. We are reminded that the pitiful people in the lower right quadrant that first drew our eye are actually the //lucky// ones because they are hidden in the corner and don't have to face Lucifer for all eternity.

Dante and Virgil appear on the ledge in the upper right. It is difficult to make out, but Dante is actually collapsing into Virgil's arms, thus the reason for Virgil telling him to "arm his heart with strength" in the caption. By his words, Virgil helps Dante and, by extension, the reader deal with coming face to face with Satan, the great evil we've heard so much about but never laid eyes on. This image of Satan created by Dore is meant to stick in the mind. It makes Lucifer real. It makes what Dante is saying about the need for redemption real. We are meant to share in Dante's experience, to feel his fear, and to feel the helplessness of relying on anyone but God. In the face of Dore's Lucifer, Dante's point becomes remarkably effective.

Framing
Size is a key issue in this picture. Satan is huge, everyone else is small. Even Dante and Virgil are no bigger than any of the nameless people tortured around Lucifer. Dore uses size as a way of representing power. In other illustrations, Virgil is shown taller than Dante and angels are depicted taller than Virgil. Here, Dante and Virgil are both dwarfed by the monstrosity of Lucifer's power. It is necessary to make Satan as evil and powerful as possible because Dante believes that God is more powerful than Satan. If Satan's awesome might is hinted at by his size and ferocity, how much more amazing is God's power when He can simply cast Satan aside with the flick of his hand?

The frame of the shot is created by the rocks on the upper left side and the upper right side. These are drawn in much greater detail and are shown to be closer to the viewer. Dore is again giving us the view of the timid follower that has watched Dante from afar. Even in this evil place, we see Dis from a ledge much further away from Lucifer than that of Dante. In fact, from Dante's perspective, his view is almost entirely that of Satan and the icy plain in front of him, a despairing sight. Notice also that there is no back wall against which we can accurately gauge Satan's size. There is only darkness behind him. The final hurdle for Dante is to emerge from the this fearful and fearsome center of Hell into Purgatory. After seeing this image of Satan, Dante realizes how small he is in the cosmic scheme and how much he must depend on God for everything.

Lighting
The only source of light in the picture is the small bit that Virgil brings with him into the city. Even so, he barely illuminates the ledge he and Dante are standing on. In reality, we know that when you turn on a flashlight in a dark room, you can illuminate a great deal and are very visible while doing so. Here, the darkness presses in on Virgil's light. He cannot illuminate the cavern or even attract Satan's attention by his light. Since Virgil represents the power of human reason and non-Christian virtue, he shows that being a good person is not really enough to get out of Hell. You need the blessing of God to move from this cursed place to somewhere better.

Through the picture, the ledges and the icy plain are barely visible. It is as if Dore is attempting to show a scene that belongs shrouded in darkness by giving us no firm source of illumination. Like Dante, we are meant to see just enough to scare us, but not enough to see a way out from Hell, at least at first. The text takes Dante past the picture into Purgatory, but Dore has frozen, if you will pardon the pun, the moment Dante sees Satan for the first time. His dimming light is meant to be ours as well. The long journey is over, though. Dante need only persevere a little longer and the horror is over. This is the hope inherent in the picture. Even in the most evil place imaginable, there is light or at least the possibility for it. Likewise, we are reminded that, like Virgil, sometimes the only light we have is the light we bring with us.