The Wood of Suicides illustrates a passage from the Inferno
canticle of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. Sinners
who take their own lives are condemned by King Minos to the Seventh Circle of
Hell. The Wood of the Suicides is
where the souls are transformed into gnarled, disfigured, and brittle trees
which comprise this gruesome forest. Each tree is different, for example, Bella's
tree has vine wrapped around her neck like a noose, representing how she took
her life. Each tree is a twisted version of their own suicide. The trees
produce Suicide Fruit that causes thoughts of suicide on humans like Dante. If
he is unable to resist the effects of the fruit, he will commit suicide by
stabbing himself with his cross.
The illustration is Gustave Doré Suicides
and Squanderers from 1861. Finding it difficult to secure a publisher
willing to take on the expense of producing the opulent folio edition the
artist envisioned, Doré himself financed the publication of the first book of
the series, Inferno. The production was an immediate artistic
and commercial success.
By South Utsire
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