Dante+and+Virgil+at+the+Gates+of+Hell

== =Dante and Virgil at the Gates of Hell=

The first place Dante must visit on his path to redemption is Hell (or the Inferno). The entrance to so foreboding a place should be suitably intimidating. While Dore's version of the Gates of Hell is not as fanciful as other images, his gates are quite powerful in their own way.



Visual Cues
The first and most obvious strategy Dore uses to draw the eye is the strong horizontal lines in the picture. The clouds are in horizontal lines and the large rocky area above Dante and Virgil's heads cuts across the entire frame. The only two lines that are not horizontal are two diagonal lines that converge at the foot of the entrance. Our eyes are drawn to Dante and Virgil and, more precisely, to the gate they must pass through.

Dore's gate is surprisingly devoid of evil decorations. This almost minimalist version of hell contrasts with the great deal of detail (much of it shocking) within its gates. Note that the trees of the dark wood are gone, but Dante and Virgil are still shown in a valley. They are in a downward slope toward hell. Dante (the shorter one) is gesturing with his hand toward the famous sign above the gate, part of which also serves as the caption, "All hope abandon, ye who enter here".

Dore's use of the horizontal provides a great deal of stability in the frame that is offset by our knowledge of what the image is showing. We see Hell, but we also feel it devoid of life through the lack of trees, which makes the horizontal structure apparent. It feels like an eternal place. One can hardly imagine this rocky, forbidding place being either forgotten or covered over. Dore's vision of Hell is one that drains your hope as you approach it. It isn't meant to terrorize you; that comes later when you are in Hell. Here the key is despair. This gate is like the silence before a scream. In some ways, it's worse to imagine Hell than to be there.

Framing
The title of the illustration is "Dante and Virgil at the Gates of Hell", yet the subjects in that title are almost hidden. Dante and Virgil are minuscule in comparison to the vastness of Hell's bleak desolation. Even our view of the gate is partially blocked. There may be several reasons for this particular set of framing decisions. One is that our eyes are drawn to the landscape more than the gate because the landscape is the symbol of the lifelessness of this dark realm. Our eyes are meant to see the harsh rocky surroundings and the brief light in the distance rather than the individuals involved in the current drama. After all, this portion of the Comedy is called the Inferno. Hell is the main character and chief setting. By drawing our focus to the space around the gate, we feel Dante's hopelessness and can only wonder at the horrors that await.

Another reason may be that the artist's view is our view, that is, the normal person that Dante is trying to instruct. Like someone furtively following Dante, we see the gate, but don't want to lose our cover just yet. It's as if we are hiding behind a rock while watching Dante and Virgil go in. When the artist's view comes around the rock on the left, the gaze would be directly at the gate. Dante's hesitation becomes ours as we read the inscription above the door in the caption. Dore puts us in Dante's emotional position while showing us his physical position. In the text, Dante loses heart many times, but is urged on by Virgil. The viewer is brought to the brink of despair before embarking on this journey with Dante because Dore shows us how small Dante feels in this realm and how utterly devoid of anything good this place is. If Dante thought the dark wood of error was frightening at the beginning of the book, this is truly a case of "out of the frying pan and into the fire".

Lighting
Dore uses light to represent righteousness in comparison with the darkness of evil. Being so, there are two sources of light. The first is Virgil. Notice how the light is centered around the taller figure on the right. The rock behind him is illuminated on its face, but dark on its reverse side, indicating the light is between the gate and the rock. Since no light is coming from the gate, our gaze falls on the two figures. Dante is merely caught up in Virgil's righteousness here because Dante has not undergone purification. His light is dimmed.

The other light is the light of God in the distance. Dore depicts God as a far off light in the Inferno plates because God, by definition, cannot be in Hell or anywhere near it. He is, however, visible to the spectator that wishes to see His light. Notice how the light in the sky is not visible to Dante and Virgil where they are standing. The slope toward the gate hides the light in the sky. Metaphorically, the closer you get to Hell, the harder it is to see God.