1827
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
The Circle of the Traitors: Dante's Foot Strriking Bocca degli Abbate, from Dante's Inferno, Canto XXXII Illustration to Dante's The Divine Comedy is a 1827 by William Blake, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
This sketch shows a towering figure stepping on a cowering man’s face. Behind them, two more figures stand on a rocky shore, while a stormy sea churns with drowned faces. The light is dim, but one figure on the right holds a torch, casting long shadows. The artist used sharp contrasts between light and dark to make the scene feel dramatic. This is a scene from Dante’s *Inferno*, where the poet punishes traitors. Next, look up Romanticism to see how this style changed art.
William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker.
See the richer artist page
