The Circle of the Lustful: Paolo and Francesca - William Blake
Archival giclée
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Description
A detailed engraving by William Blake depicting the second circle of the Inferno from Dante's Divine Comedy, showing the whirlwind of the lustful.
This engraving is part of William Blake’s final project, a series of illustrations commissioned by the painter John Linnell for Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Blake worked on these compositions during the last years of his life, producing a set of watercolours and a smaller number of engravings before his death in 1827. The work depicts the second circle of the Inferno, where those overcome by carnal desire are punished by a relentless, swirling storm.
Blake’s composition captures the narrative of Paolo and Francesca, the tragic lovers who appear in Canto V. The figures are caught within a massive, vortex-like current that dominates the left side of the frame. This whirlwind of bodies conveys the chaotic nature of their eternal torment. To the right, Dante and Virgil observe the scene from a rocky ledge. Dante is shown in a state of collapse, overcome by the emotional weight of the encounter, while Virgil stands composed, acting as his guide through the underworld.
Technically, the print demonstrates Blake’s mastery of line and form. The figures are rendered with a clarity that defines their musculature and posture, even within the turbulent motion of the storm. The contrast between the dark, swirling mass of the damned and the luminous, circular light source above creates a clear division between the physical suffering of the sinners and the spiritual presence of the observers. Blake’s approach to the subject moves away from literal representation, focusing instead on the psychological and spiritual dimensions of Dante’s text. The work remains a significant example of his late-career output, showing his ability to interpret complex literary themes through a highly personal visual language.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
The Circle of the Lustful: Paolo and Francesca - William Blake
Artist Biography
William Blake
He married Catherine Boucher in 1782. She was illiterate at the time and signed the marriage register with an X. He taught her to read, write, and engrave, and she became his collaborator for the next forty-five years: mixing paint, operating the printing press, hand-colouring plates, and binding the finished pages into covers.
Their working method was Blake's own invention, revealed to him (he said) in a dream by the spirit of his dead brother Robert. Relief etching reversed the standard printmaking process: instead of cutting lines into copper, Blake wrote and drew on the plate in acid-resistant varnish, then dissolved the surrounding metal with acid, leaving text and image raised. This allowed him to compose poetry and illustration simultaneously on a single plate, print them together, then hand-colour each sheet in watercolour. Every copy was therefore unique. Songs of Innocence and of Experience was produced this way. He sold fewer than thirty copies during his lifetime.
In 1803, he physically threw a soldier named John Schofield out of his garden in Felpham. He was charged with assault and with uttering treasonable expressions against the King. He was acquitted at the Chichester assizes in January 1804.
Newton, painted in 1795, shows the scientist as a young man with the body of a Greek god, bent forward at the bottom of a dark ocean, fixing his gaze on a pair of compasses, measuring and drawing on a scroll that appears to project from his own head. It is a painting about the limits of reason: beautiful, precise, and missing everything beyond the edge of the paper. The Ancient of Days, from the same period, depicts his mythological figure Urizen crouching at the edge of a void, reaching down with a compass to measure the darkness below.
He died on 12 August 1827, working on illustrations for Dante's Divine Comedy. He was buried at Bunhill Fields. The wider recognition came decades later.
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