Submersion in Lethe 

Gustave Doré made this engraving, "Submersion in Lethe," during the 19th century. It reflects a period when artists mined literature and mythology for profound human themes. Here, Doré illustrates a scene from Dante's "Purgatorio," where the character is submerged in the river Lethe to forget his sins. The image resonates with the 19th-century fascination with the spiritual and the subconscious. European society, then undergoing rapid industrialization, was grappling with anxieties about modernity and a loss of traditional values. Doré’s detailed rendering and dramatic composition evoke a sense of both dread and catharsis. To understand Doré fully, we examine the academic art traditions that shaped his training, and also the broader literary and intellectual currents of his time. We can learn more about the social function of art in the rapidly changing world of 19th-century Europe. By researching into those contexts, we recognize how the art of the past speaks to the present.