Lucifer, King of Hell — Gustave Doré (Dante's Inferno, 1861)

The fallen angel at the bottom of the world

In an immense cavern hung with stalactites, a giant spreads his bat wings from one side of the abyss to the other. Horned, bearded, his chin resting on his fists, Lucifer broods in silence over a frozen waste strewn with bodies. On a ledge to the right, two tiny figures watch him: Dante and his guide Virgil, who have reached the very bottom of Hell. Doré's genius lies in the scale: the emperor of the doleful kingdom is not shown roaring, but motionless, defeated and eternally alone.

The engravings that shaped our idea of Hell

Gustave Doré began work on Dante's Inferno in 1855, at just 23. No publisher would take the risk of such a lavish edition, so he paid for it himself; when it appeared in 1861 it sold out at once, and Hachette rushed him back with a famous telegram admitting its mistake. The plates were cut on wood by a team of master engravers, among them Héliodore Pisan, whose signature appears at the bottom right of this image. A century and a half later, these are still the images most of us see when we think of Hell.

Why it works so well on a wall

Unusually for Doré's Dante, this plate is horizontal, which makes it a natural fit above a sofa, a bed or a desk. Its dense blacks and silvery greys suit a library, a study or a dark-academia interior, and it makes a memorable gift for readers of Dante and lovers of gothic art. A black frame with a wide mat emphasises its depth.

• Artist: Gustave Doré (1832–1883)
• Work: Illustration for Dante's Divine Comedy, Inferno, Canto XXXIV
• Date: 1861
• Medium: Wood engraving, cut by Héliodore Pisan
• Literary source: Dante Alighieri, Inferno

Discover more of Doré's visionary engravings in our Gustave Doré collection.