Canto XXV/1: Cartouche 

Lithograph page proof approved by the artist and signed / initialled by him, taken from the original Talford Press edition of 185, printed on 100% rag, acid-free Inveresk (Somerset) paper

page size 39.5 x 31 cm

1979 – 1983

Dante's extensive references in this Canto to Classical models seemed to call for a formal frontispiece in the manner of those multiple cartouches that one finds in early printed books, where borders both decorative and referential frame some portrait, key image, or title. All the elements used to compose the image come from the famous sculpture Laocöon.