These 135 fantastic scenes depict the passion and grandeur of Dante's masterpiece — from the depths of hell onto the mountain of purgatory and up to the empyrean realms of paradise.
In a nutshell, Christianity is one of the greatest if not the greatest hoax ever perpetuated on people in the history of the universe. It is practically all fantasy of one sort of another that millions of people believe in all over the world and have done so for many centuries since Christianity began. It all could have been made up out of whole cloth. The Old Testament cannot be taken at face value as the creation story was most likely borrowed from other sources and adapted to fit with the author’s purpose of explaining how the world began. The Exodus may be entirely fiction and most certainly did not happen the way it is described in the Bible. As far as the New Testament is concerned, it was written decades after the crucifixion of Jesus by people who were not eyewitnesses to the events they described. There may have been a prophet whose teachings drew many followers, but there was certainly no virgin birth, no miracles, and no resurrection. The purpose of all the apocalyptic writing and second coming of Christ may have been motivated by the oppression of the Roman Empire where the Jewish people felt powerless and needed to believe in something that would provide them with a feeling that in the final analysis justice would be done and they would get their revenge. Thus, Christianity needs to be exposed for the fraud that it is which is what this book attempts to do by looking at the history of Christianity, Biblical scholarship, and other aspects of Christianity along with its alternatives.
New edition of the excellent introduction to Gustave Doré's paintings, engravings and illustrations of the world's greatest literature, from The Bible to The Divine Comedy. An artist who worked across many media, the multi-skilled Gustave Doré remains unequalled as a supremely talented illustrator, whose detailed and imaginative engravings for major works of literature – from Cervantes’s Don Quixote to Dante’s Divine Comedy, and even the Bible – have hugely influenced the way we see many cultural and literary characters and still inspire today (David Beckham has a tattoo on his chest of Doré’s The Agony in the Garden). This sumptuous new introduction to the artist focuses on these illustrations, first introducing you to his life, work and the rich seam of illustration history that he continued and ignited, from Blake and Fuseli to today’s newspaper comics, before presenting a carefully curated thematic selection of his finest and most important engravings. From his vision of Jacob Wrestling with the Angel to Crossing the River Styx, the work of this most prodigious and much borrowed-from artist is represented in glorious full-page reproductions.
"IN the midway of this our mortal life,I found me in a gloomy wood, astrayGone from the path direct: and e'en to tellIt were no easy task, how savage wildThat forest, how robust and rough its growth,Which to remember only, my dismay...
All 100 original plates from 19th-century classic, including The Massacre of Antioch, The Road to Jerusalem, The Baptism of Infidels, The Battle of Lepanto, many more. Magnificent, royalty-free illustrations with captions.
Detailed plates from the Bible: the Creation scenes, Adam and Eve, horrifying visions of the Flood, the battle sequences with their monumental crowds, depictions of the life of Jesus, 241 plates in all.
The exuberant art of Gustave Doré (1832-83) has influenced romantics and realists around the world. A self-taught child prodigy who met with early and resounding success, Doré ranks among the most prolific and popular illustrators of all time. Known as "the master of the fantastic," he excelled in conveying dramatic action in memorable settings. This original collection assembles for the first time Doré's best work depicting knights and their adventures. It features eighty-six captivating scenes of battles, damsels, dragons, and other images from the Age of Chivalry. Advances in science and technology introduced irrevocable changes to the society of Doré and his contemporaries and aroused a nostalgia for simpler times. The moral certitude and stability embodied in Arthurian myths and other medieval romances proved as appealing to Victorians as they do to modern audiences. This collection features highlights from eight volumes that span more than two decades of Doré's career, including scenes from Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Other sources include Don Quixote, Orlando Furioso, Rabelais' The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel, and Michaud's History of the Crusades.
This book is an in-depth biography of Dore's life and works. Dore was a prolific and popular illustrator who set the standard for the artistic expression of literary classics. Contains 300 black and white illustrations.