The Circle of the Traitors: Dante's Foot Strriking Bocca degli Abbate, from Dante's Inferno, Canto XXXII Illustration to Dante's The Divine Comedy

The Circle of the Traitors: Dante's Foot Strriking Bocca degli Abbate, from Dante's Inferno, Canto XXXII Illustration to Dante's The Divine Comedy by William Blake is a profound example of British Romantic illustration, executed as an engraving in 1827. This print belongs to a series of one hundred illustrations that Blake undertook for Dante Alighieri’s epic poem, a monumental project dominating the final years of the artist's life.

The scene depicts Canto XXXII of the Inferno, where the poet Dante, traversing the frozen ninth circle of hell (Cocytus), accidentally kicks the head of one of the traitors, Bocca degli Abbati. Blake, a visionary artist from the United Kingdom, translates the raw emotional intensity of the text into stark, linear forms, characteristic of his late style. As an experienced master of printmaking, Blake utilizes the precision of engraving to define the tormented figures set against the bleak, glacial topography of the pit of traitors. The composition emphasizes the severity of eternal punishment and Dante’s moral outrage, capturing the moment of conflict between the living pilgrim and the eternally frozen, condemned soul.

Although Blake died before fully completing the series, the extant works, including this dramatic print, demonstrate his profound spiritual engagement with Dante's theological and allegorical universe. The significance of this particular illustration lies in its detailed representation of a key moment of moral failing and retribution within the poem. This important example of Blake's graphic work is classified as a print and resides within the permanent collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art.