FILIPPO ARGENTI IN THE RIVER STYX 1903 Gustave Doré ANTIQUE ENGRAVING

Original 9 1/2 inch x 7 5/8 inch Engraving FILIPPO ARGENTI IN THE RIVER STYX.

Filippo Argenti, a 13th century politician and a citizen of Florence, was a member of the Cavicciuoli branch of the aristocratic family of Adimari. He was a member of the Black Guelphs political party, opponents of the White Guelphs, Dante’s political party. He appears as a character in the fifth circle of Hell in the Inferno, the first part of Dante's Divine Comedy. He is among the wrathful in the river Styx, and accosts Dante as the latter crosses the Styx.

Text below the image: “My teacher sage aware, thrusting him back: “Away! Down there to the other dogs!”. Canto VIII., lines 39-41.

Engraved by Adolphe François Pannemaker (1822 - 1900). Wood engraver. Graduate of Ecole Royale in Brussels. He went to Paris and worked there for more than 30 years, especially as book illustrator, often working with his son and pupil, Stéphane Pannemaker (1847-1930), especially on reproductions of Gustave Doré's book illlustrations.

Illustration by Gustave Doré (1832 - 1883). The most popular and successful French book illustrator of the middle of the 19th century. Doré became widely known for his illustrations to such books as Danté’s Inferno (1861), Don Quixote (1862), and the Bible (1866), and he helped to give European currency to the illustrated book of large format. He was so prolific that at one time he employed more than forty wood engravers. His work is characterized by an eclectic mix of Michelangelesque nudes, northern traditions of sublime landscape, and a highly spirited love of the grotesque and bizarre.
Doré began work on his illustrations for the Divine Comedy in 1855 at a time when there was a renewed interest in Dante in France. Doré himself financed the publication of the Inferno in 1861 and this was so successful that the Purgatory and Paradise were published by Hachette in 1868 as a single volume. Subsequently, Doré's Dante illustrations appeared in roughly 200 editions in many languages.

Illustration for Dante Alighieri’s “The Divine Comedy” widely considered to be the preeminent work in Italian literature and one of the greatest works of world literature. It is divided into three parts: Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. This illustration is from the Inferno.

Published as a part work by Cassell and Company, Limited, London. May 1903 - September 1904.

Page size 13 1/4 inch x 10 inch

The engraving, on fairly thick paper, is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.