Although I was not previously familiar with Doré's depictions of The Divine Comedy (he does Purgatorio and Paradiso as well, and they are just as amazing), I was familiar with his prints of Rime of the Ancient Mariner. As a refresher, the rime is Coleridge's poem about the mariner who shoots an albatross, and the subsequent hell that breaks loose. It is one of my favorite poems, both for its eerie imagery and for its overall creepiness, and I think Doré's prints really do it justice. So, here are some of my favorites from the collection.
Just for starters, if you were wondering just how disheveled and ancient the ancient mariner was, here is Doré's take:
How cold was "wondrous cold?" ....pretty cold. (Plus, look at the snowy dots, Doré carved all of those snowy dots. Thats a lot of snowy dots.)
This is what killing good juju looks like...AKA "I shot the Albatross" or "stupidity"
Doré makes playing dice for life or death as creepy as it should be.
And here is the mariner with the dead albatross, which seems sacrilege just by itself apart from the fact that he is the one that killed it. But alas, there are his water snakes he thinks so beautiful (even if it is just because they are alive)
Lastly (just of my favorites) the pilot and hermit...
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