The engraving, "The Circle of the Thieves; Agnolo Brunelleschi Attacked by a Six-Footed Serpent" by William Blake and Harry Hoehn, is a powerful and unsettling visual interpretation of Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. Executed in 1827, this classification of the artwork is a print-specifically a restrike of Blake’s original composition intended for his ambitious series illustrating the Divine Comedy. The demanding technique of engraving requires precise skill in incising lines into a metal plate, a method that captures the intense drama and detailed, often grotesque, anatomical distortions characteristic of Blake’s late style.
The subject is drawn from Canto XXV of the Inferno, depicting the gruesome punishment meted out to thieves in the Eighth Circle of Hell, Malebolge. The scene illustrates one of the most horrific metamorphoses, capturing the moment the Florentine thief Agnolo Brunelleschi is brutally attacked by a monstrous, six-footed serpent. The composition focuses on the terrifying merger of bodies, emphasizing the pain and confusion of the changing figures, a dramatic visual device popular within British art during the 1826 to 1850 period. Blake’s distinctive interpretation, marked by its spiritual intensity and linear precision, translates the epic poem's terror into a visual confrontation with sin and punishment.
While the conceptual design and vision belong to Blake, the technical production and classification as an 1827 restrike print indicate the involvement of Hoehn, who ensured the continuation and dissemination of this iconic series. This piece is held within the National Gallery of Art collection, representing an important document of literary illustration and the legacy of the Romantic era. Like many historical prints, this work contributes significantly to the understanding of Western literature, and its design, rooted in the British tradition, frequently enters the public domain, ensuring widespread accessibility for study and appreciation.
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