| Description | Letter to Macdonald from Gustave Dore, Grosvenor Hotel, Victoria Station, London (with English translation), informing him that the painting requires now only a few more touches, he will send it soon, but wishes to exhibit it beforehand in the German gallery in New Bond Street, description of the painting, the subject from Dante's Divine Comedy, the second Canto of Purgatory: Dante and Virgil are on the shore of the great lake that surrounds the mountain of Purgatory, while in the distance there is a luminous angel on the prow of a barque containing ghosts - the two poets bow before the vision. He includes (on the opposite page) a small sketch of the painting, to show the aspect. 30 May 1868. |