Graphite, ink and watercolour on paper
Tate Britain
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
General Collection
Art Fund
Illustrations to Dante’s ‘Divine Comedy’
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-blake-39" aria-label="More by William Blake" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">William Blake</a>
Dante and Virgil Approaching Angel Who Guards Entrance Purgatory
Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the National Gallery and donations from the Art Fund, Lord Duveen and others, and presented through the Art Fund 1919
angel
arch
architecture
astronomy
characters
cloud
contrition - step of rough stone
Dante
Dante, ‘Divine Comedy: Purgatorio’
door
emotional states and conditions
features
Judaeo-Christian imagery
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
love - step of porphyry
mythical, religious, fictional
places
Purgatory
Purgatory
religion and belief
sea
seascapes and coasts
sincerity - step of marble
stair / step
sun
symbols and personifications
universal religious imagery
Virgil
weather
<p>This watercolour shows a scene from Dante’s <span>Divine Comedy</span>. The poet Dante (in red) and his guide, the ancient Roman poet Virgil, approach the angel guarding the gates to purgatory. The three steps in polished white marble, dark stone and red rock represent sincerity, contrition and love. Blake uses evocative atmosphere to define each stage of Dante’s journey. Hell is claustrophobic, with ever-changing weather. Purgatory (seen here) is animated by the sun, moon and stars, an endless cycle of night and day. Paradise is flooded with light and bright colour.</p><p><em>Gallery label, June 2024</em></p>
paper unique graphite ink watercolour
8 July 2002 – 1 October 2003
2003-10-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-08
William Blake Body and Soul
Collection based display
8 July 2002 – 16 March 2003
2003-03-16
8 July 2002 – 16 March 2003
2003-03-16
2002-07-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-08
Body and Soul
Collection based display
24 November 2003 – 22 November 2004
2004-11-22
10 November 2003
2003-11-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2003-11-24
William Blake the Painter at Work
Collection based display
18 October 2008 – 5 April 2009
2009-04-05
18 October 2008 – 19 April 2009
2009-04-19
2008-10-18
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2008-10-18
Blake and Collins
Collection based display
1 November 2011 – 21 October 2012
2012-10-21
1 November 2011 – 19 February 2012
2012-02-19
2011-11-01
State Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (Moscow, Russia)
3 July 2012 – 21 October 2012
2012-10-21
2012-07-03
Fundació “la Caixa” (Madrid, Spain)
2011-11-01
Blake Exhibition
Loan-out
20 April 2015 – 7 May 2017
2017-05-07
20 April 2015 – 7 May 2017
2017-05-07
2015-04-20
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2015-04-20
William Blake
Collection based display
11 September 2019 – 2 February 2020
2020-02-02
11 September 2019 – 2 February 2020
2020-02-02
2019-09-11
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2019-09-11
William Blake: The Artist
Exhibition
24 June 2024
24 June 2024
2024-06-24
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2024-06-24
Blake
Collection based display
Dante and Virgil Approaching the Angel Who Guards the Entrance of Purgatory
support: 527 × 373 mm
Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the National Gallery and donations from the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a>, Lord Duveen and others, and presented through the <a href="/search?gid=999999968" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Art Fund</a> 1919
<div><p><span>This watercolour shows a scene from Dante’s </span><i>Divine Comedy</i><span>. The poet Dante (in red) and his guide, the ancient Roman poet Virgil, approach the angel guarding the gates to purgatory. The three steps in polished white marble, dark stone and red rock represent sincerity, contrition and love. Blake uses evocative atmosphere to define each stage of Dante’s journey. Hell is claustrophobic, with ever-changing weather. Purgatory (seen here) is animated by the sun, moon and stars, an endless cycle of night and day. Paradise is flooded with light and bright colour.</span></p></div>
Display caption
2024-06-06T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-dante-and-virgil-approaching-the-angel-who-guards-the-entrance-of-purgatory-n03367" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N03367</span></a> <b>Dante and Virgil Approaching the Angel who Guards the Entrance of Purgatory</b> 1824–7
<br/>
<br/>N 03367 / B 812 <i>78</i>
<br/>Pencil, pen and watercolour 527×373 (20 3/4×14 11/16)</p>
<p>Inscribed ‘P-g-Canto 9’ in ink b.l. and 'Pg Canto 9 v [?]... [?] 'b.r., and, on reverse in pencil, ‘Pg Canto 9’ b.r. and ‘35’ t.r. turned through a right-angle
<br/>Watermarked ‘WE’
<br/>Purchased with the assistance of a special grant from the National Gallery and donations from the National Art-Collections Fund, Lord Duveen and others, and presented through the National Art-Collections Fund 1919
<br/>PROVENANCE As for <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/blake-dante-and-virgil-penetrating-the-forest-n03351" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N03351</span></a>
<br/>EXHIBITED Tate Gallery 1947 (65)
<br/>LITERATURE Rossetti 1863, p.221 no.102i, and 1880, p.233 no.124i; Roe 1953, pp.148–50 no.78, repr.; Paley 1978, p.73; Klonsky 1980, pp.17, 155–6, colour pl.81; Butlin 1981, pp.580–1 no.812 <i>78</i>; Gizzi 1983, p.159 repr; Warner 1984, p.120; Fuller in <i>Art History</i> 1988, p.372 n.17
<br/></p>
<p>This is an illustration to <i>Purgatorio</i> IX, 73–105. Still ascending the Mountain of Purgatory, Dante and Virgil approach the angel who guards the gate to Purgatory itself; the three steps, in white polished marble, a dark rough stone and a flaming porphyry, represent sincerity, contrition and love.
<br/>
<br/>Roe suggests that the resemblance of the angel to Urizen, who represents for Blake the materialism of pure reason, and the increased clouding over of the sun reflect Blake's disapproval of Dante's conception of Purgatory and Paradise. Fuller, however, disputes the identification with Urizen, citing this as a typical example of Roe's overinterpretation and pointing out that the symbolic use of the veiled sun derives from Dante's own imagery.</p>
<p>
<br/><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin, <i>William Blake 1757-1827</i>, Tate Gallery Collections, V, London 1990
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-07-16T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
angel arch architecture astronomy characters cloud contrition - step of rough stone Dante Dante, ‘Divine Comedy: Purgatorio’ door emotional states and conditions features Judaeo-Christian imagery literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) love - step of porphyry mythical, religious, fictional places Purgatory Purgatory religion and belief sea seascapes and coasts sincerity - step of marble stair / step sun symbols and personifications universal religious imagery Virgil weather