French printmaker Gustave Doré (1832 – 1883) reigned over a menacing, nightmarish purgatory swarming with grotesque winged creatures, bodies writhing in agony and demonic entities. Doré was best known for his dramatic, black and white wood-engraved illustrations of Dante’s “Inferno,” Cervantes’ “Don Quixote,” Poe’s “The Raven” and the Bible. A child prodigy whose artistic talent emerged at age 5, he became France’s highest-paid illustrator by age 16. Remarkably prolific, he produced 10,000 engravings during his life and employed more than 40 block cutters. The most popular illustrator of all time, Doré profoundly influenced Van Gogh and the Symbolists.

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