SCHEFFER, Ary
(b. 1795, Dordrecht, d. 1858, Argenteuil)

The Ghosts of Paolo and Francesca Appear to Dante and Virgil

1835
Oil on canvas, 167 x 234 cm
Wallace Collection, London

The painting illustrates a famous episode from the fifth canto of Dante's Inferno, in which Dante and Virgil see Paolo and Francesca condemned to the darkness of Hell with the souls of the lustful. This is the prime version of a composition Scheffer repeated several times and it has a frame which he specially devised to suit the subject.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 16 minutes):
Franz Liszt: Dante-sonata