The Seventh Circle 

Gustave Doré’s 19th-century engraving, "The Seventh Circle," visualizes a scene from Dante's Inferno through the sharp contrast of ink on paper. Doré mastered the technique of wood engraving. A design is drawn onto a block of wood, after which a specialized craftsman uses sharp tools to carve away the negative space. The remaining raised lines are then inked and printed, creating the final image. In this print, we can see the degree to which a painstaking, laborious process can result in an image of remarkable textural complexity. The density of lines creates deep shadows and intense highlights, heightening the drama of Dante’s vision. The method also encouraged a certain kind of graphic clarity, ideally suited to the epic narrative. Doré produced an astounding number of illustrations, many of them realized at a relatively large scale. The industrialization of printmaking in the 19th century allowed for mass production and dissemination of images, making Doré’s work accessible to a broad audience. This print reminds us of the rich and surprisingly robust relationship between handmade techniques and the rise of mass media.