The Circle of the Traitors; Dante's Foot Striking Bocca degli Abbate was created by William Blake in 1827. This powerful image, executed as an engraving, is one of the final pieces Blake completed for his ambitious series illustrating Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. This print exemplifies the artistic concerns of the British Romantic era, falling squarely within the 1826 to 1850 period. The classification as a print highlights Blake’s dedication to this medium as a primary vehicle for his visionary imagination, demonstrating his preference for accessible graphic art over large-scale oil painting.
Blake depicts the moment described in Canto XXXII of the Inferno, where Dante, traversing the frozen lake of Cocytus, inadvertently kicks the head of the eternally imprisoned traitor, Bocca degli Abati. The scene is saturated with intense moral horror; Bocca is one of the Florentine traitors frozen in the deepest circle of Hell. Blake masterfully utilizes line and deep shadows to characterize this icy abyss, contrasting the dynamic motion of the figures against the rigid, frozen ground. Unlike many contemporaries, Blake employed the precise, rigid nature of copper engraving to convey these dramatic emotional states.
The legacy of this Dante series cemented Blake's reputation as one of Britain’s most important visionary artists, deeply influencing subsequent generations of Pre-Raphaelite and Symbolist painters. The finished prints are celebrated not only for their spiritual intensity but also for their technical brilliance in depicting the stark realities of damnation and betrayal. This particular example of the 1827 engraving is held in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, where it serves as a critical document of British graphic art. Due to its age and cultural significance, this seminal work is often shared widely through public domain initiatives, ensuring Blake’s unique interpretation of theological suffering remains accessible to scholars and enthusiasts worldwide.
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