Title: The Doré Gallery of Bible Illustrations, Volume 1
Author: Doré, Gustave, 1832-1883 [Illustrator]
Language: English
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              THE DORE GALLERY OF BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS

                  Illustrated by Gustave Dore

                          Volume 1.


This volume, as its title indicates, is a collection of engravings
illustrative of the Bible--the designs being all from the pencil of the
greatest of modern delineators, Gustave Dore. The original work, from
which this collection has been made, met with an immediate and warm
recognition and acceptance among those whose means admitted of its
purchase, and its popularity has in no wise diminished since its first
publication, but has even extended to those who could only enjoy it
casually, or in fragmentary parts. That work, however, in its entirety,
was far too costly for the larger and ever-widening circle of M. Dore's
admirers, and to meet the felt and often-expressed want of this class,
and to provide a volume of choice and valuable designs upon sacred
subjects for art-loving Biblical students generally, this work was
projected and has been carried forward. The aim has been to introduce
subjects of general interest--that is, those relating to the most
prominent events and personages of Scripture--those most familiar to all
readers; the plates being chosen with special reference to the known
taste of the American people. To each cut is prefixed a page of
letter-press--in, narrative form, and containing generally a brief
analysis of the design. Aside from the labors of the editor and
publishers, the work, while in progress, was under the pains-taking and
careful scrutiny of artists and scholars not directly interested in the
undertaking, but still having a generous solicitude for its success. It
is hoped, therefore, that its general plan and execution will render it
acceptable both to the appreciative and friendly patrons of the great
artist, and to those who would wish to possess such a work solely as a
choice collection of illustrations upon sacred themes.



GUSTAVE DORE.

The subject of this sketch is, perhaps, the most original and variously
gifted designer the world has ever known. At an age when most men have
scarcely passed their novitiate in art, and are still under the direction
and discipline of their masters and the schools, he had won a brilliant
reputation, and readers and scholars everywhere were gazing on his work
with ever-increasing wonder and delight at his fine fancy and
multifarious gifts. He has raised illustrative art to a dignity and
importance before unknown, and has developed capacities for the pencil
before unsuspected. He has laid all subjects tribute to his genius,
explored and embellished fields hitherto lying waste, and opened new and
shining paths and vistas where none before had trod. To the works of the
great he has added the lustre of his genius, bringing their beauties into
clearer view and warming them to a fuller life.

His delineations of character, in the different phases of life, from the
horrible to the grotesque, the grand to the comic, attest the versatility
of his powers; and, whatever faults may be found by critics, the public
will heartily render their quota of admiration to his magic touch, his
rich and facile rendering of almost every thought that stirs, or lies yet
dormant, in the human heart. It is useless to attempt a sketch of his
various beauties; those who would know them best must seek them in the
treasure--house that his genius is constantly augmenting with fresh gems
and wealth. To one, however, of his most prominent traits we will
refer--his wonderful rendering of the powers of Nature.

His early wanderings in the wild and romantic passes of the Vosges
doubtless developed this inherent tendency of his mind. There he
wandered, and there, mayhap, imbibed that deep delight of wood and
valley, mountain--pass and rich ravine, whose variety of form and detail
seems endless to the enchanted eye. He has caught the very spell of the
wilderness; she has laid her hand upon him, and he has gone forth with
her blessing. So bold and truthful and minute are his countless
representations of forest scenery; so delicate the tracery of branch and
stem; so patriarchal the giant boles of his woodland monarchs, that the'
gazer is at once satisfied and entranced. His vistas lie slumbering with
repose either in shadowy glade or fell ravine, either with glint of lake
or the glad, long course of some rejoicing stream, and above all, supreme
in a beauty all its own, he spreads a canopy of peerless sky, or a
wilderness, perhaps, of angry storm, or peaceful stretches of soft,
fleecy cloud, or heavens serene and fair--another kingdom to his teeming
art, after the earth has rendered all her gifts.

Paul Gustave Dore was born in the city of Strasburg, January 10, 1833. Of
his boyhood we have no very particular account. At eleven years of age,
however, he essayed his first artistic creation--a set' of lithographs,
published in his native city. The following year found him in Paris,
entered as a 7. student at the Charlemagne Lyceum. His first actual work
began in 1848, when his fine series of sketches, the "Labors of
Hercules," was given to the public through the medium of an illustrated,
journal with which he was for a long time connected as designer. In 1856
were published the illustrations for Balzac's "Contes Drolatiques" and
those for "The Wandering Jew "--the first humorous and grotesque in the
highest degree--indeed, showing a perfect abandonment to fancy; the other
weird and supernatural, with fierce battles, shipwrecks, turbulent mobs,
and nature in her most forbidding and terrible aspects. Every incident or
suggestion that could possibly make the story more effective, or add to
the horror of the scenes was seized upon and portrayed with wonderful
power. These at once gave the young designer a great reputation, which
was still more enhanced by his subsequent works.

With all his love for nature and his power of interpreting her in her
varying moods, Dore was a dreamer, and many of his finest achievements
were in the realm of the imagination. But he was at home in the actual
world also, as witness his designs for "Atala," "London--a Pilgrimage,"
and many of the scenes in "Don Quixote."

When account is taken of the variety of his designs, and the fact
considered that in almost every task he attempted none had ventured
before him, the amount of work he accomplished is fairly incredible. To
enumerate the immense tasks he undertook--some single volumes alone
containing hundreds of illustrations--will give some faint idea of his
industry. Besides those already mentioned are Montaigne, Dante, the
Bible, Milton, Rabelais, Tennyson's "Idyls of the King," "The Ancient
Mariner," Shakespeare, "Legende de Croquemitaine," La Fontaine's "Fables,"
and others still.

Take one of these works--the Dante, La Fontaine, or "Don Quixote"--and
glance at the pictures. The mere hand labor involved in their production
is surprising; but when the quality of the work is properly estimated,
what he accomplished seems prodigious. No particular mention need be made
of him as painter or sculptor, for his reputation rests solely upon his
work as an illustrator.

Dore's nature was exuberant and buoyant, and he was youthful in
appearance. He had a passion for music, possessed rare skill as a
violinist, and it is assumed that, had he failed to succeed with his
pencil, he could have won a brilliant reputation as a musician.

He was a bachelor, and lived a quiet, retired life with his
mother--married, as he expressed it, to her and his art. His death
occurred on January 23, 1883.



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

GUSTAVE DORE
THE CREATION OF EVE
THE EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN
THE MURDER OF ABEL
THE DELUGE
NOAH CURSING HAM
THE TOWER OF BABEL
ABRAHAM ENTERTAINS THREE STRANGERS
THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM
THE EXPULSION OF HAGAR
HAGAR IN THE WILDERESS
THE TRIAL OF THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM
THE BURIAL OF SARAH
ELIEZER AND REBEKAH
ISAAC BLESSING JACOB
JACOB TENDING THE FLOCKS
JOSEPH SOLD INTO EGYPT
JOSEPH INTERPRETING PHARAOH'S DREAM
JOSEPH MAKING HIMSELF KNOWN TO HIS BRETHREN
MOSES IN THE BULRUSHES
THE WAR AGAINST GIBEON
SISERA SLAIN BY JAEL
DEBORAH'S SONG OF TRIUMPH
JEPHTHAH MET BY HIS DAUGHTER
JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER AND HER COMPANIONS
SAMSON SLAYING THE LION
SAMSON AND DELILAH
THE DEATH OF SAMSON
NAOMI AND HER DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW
RUTH AND BOAZ
THE RETURN OF THE ARK
SAUL AND DAVID
DAVID SPARING SAUL
DEATH OF SAUL
THE DEATH OF ABSALOM
DAVID MOURNING OVER ABSALOM
SOLOMON
THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON
THE CEDARS DESTINED FOR THE TEMPLE
THE PROPHET SLAIN BY A LION
ELIJAH DESTROYING THE MESSENGERS OF AHAZIAH
ELIJAH'S ASCENT IN A CHARIOT OF FIRE
DEATH OF JEZEBEL
ESTHER CONFOUNDING HAMAN
ISAIAH
DESTRUCTION OF SENNACHERIB'S HOST
BARUCH
EZEKIEL PROPHESYING
THE VISION OF EZEKIEL
DANIEL
THE FIERY FURNACE
BELSHAZZAR'S FEAST
DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN
THE PROPHET AMOS
JONAH CALLING NINEVEH TO REPENTANCE
DANIEL CONFOUNDING THE PRIESTS OF BEL
HELIODORUS PUNISHED IN THE TEMPLE
THE NATIVITY
THE STAR IN THE EAST
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS
JESUS QUESTIONING THE DOCTORS
JESUS HEALING THE SICK
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
CHRIST STILLING THE TEMPEST
THE DUMB MAN POSSESSED
CHRIST IN THE SYNAGOGUE
THE DISCIPLES PLUCKING CORN ON THE SABBATH
JESUS WALKING ON THE WATER
CHRIST'S ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
JESUS AND THE TRIBUTE MONEY
THE WIDOW'S MITE
RAISING OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
ARRIVAL OF THE SAMARITAN AT THE INN
THE PRODIGAL SON
LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN
THE PHARISEE AND THE PUBLICAN
JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA
JESUS AND THE WOMAN TAKEN IN ADULTERY
THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS
MARY MAGDALENE
THE LAST SUPPER
THE AGONY IN THE GARDEN
PRAYER OF JESUS IN THE GARDEN OF OLIVES
THE BETRAYAL
CHRIST FAINTING UNDER THE CROSS
THE FLAGELLATION
THE CRUCIFIXION
CLOSE OF THE CRUCIFIXION
THE BURIAL OF JESUS
THE ANGEL AT THE SEPULCHER
THE JOURNEY TO EMMAUS
THE ASCENSION
THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. STEPHEN
SAUL'S CONVERSION
THE DELIVERANCE OF ST. PETER
PAUL AT EPHESUS
PAUL MENACED BY THE JEWS
PAUL'S SHIPWRECK
DEATH ON THE PALE HORSE



THE CREATION OF EVE.


"And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone; I
will make him a helpmeet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to
fall on Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and closed up
the flesh instead thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from
man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This
is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman,
because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father
and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh."
Genesis ii, 18, 21-24.

In these few words the Scriptures narrate the creation of the first
mother of our race. In "Paradise Lost," the poetic genius of Milton,
going more into detail, describes how Eve awoke to consciousness, and
found herself reposing under a shade of flowers, much wondering what she
was and whence she came. Wandering by the margin of a small lake, she
sees her own form mirrored in the clear waters, at which she wonders
more. But a voice is heard, leading her to him for whom she was made, who
lies sleeping under a grateful shade. It is at this point the artist
comes to interpret the poet's dream. Amid the varied and luxurious
foliage of Eden, in the vague light of the early dawn, Eve is presented,
coy and graceful, gazing on her sleeping Lord, while in the background is
faintly outlined the mystic form of Him in whose image they were created.



THE EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN.


And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know
good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the
tree of life, and eat, and live forever: Therefore, the Lord God sent him
forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was
taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden
of Eden cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the tree of life.--Genesis iii, 22-24

They, looking back, all the eastern side beheld Of Paradise, so late
their happy seat, Waved over by that flaming brand; the gate, With
dreadful forces thronged, and fiery arms Some natural tears they dropped,
but wiped them soon; The world was all before them, where to choose Their
place of rest, and Providence their guide; They, hand in hand, with
wandering steps and slow, Through Eden took their solitary way.

Paradise Lost, Book XII.



THE MURDER OF ABEL.


And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I
have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And
Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in
process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the
ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the
firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect
unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had
not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the
Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance
fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest
not well, sin lieth at the door, and unto thee shall be his desire, and
thou shalt rule over him. And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it
came to pass,--when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against
Abel his brother, and slew him.

And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I
know not Am I my brother's keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the
voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art
thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy
brother's blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not
henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt
thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is
greater than I can bear. Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from
the face of the earth and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a
fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that
every one that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him,
Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him
sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should
kill him.

And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of
Nod, on the east of Eden.--Genesis iv, 1-16



THE DELUGE.


In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the
seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the
great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain
was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the
sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them,
into the ark; they, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle
after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth
after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort.
And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh,
wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and
female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased,
and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters
prevailed, and were increased, greatly upon the earth; and the ark went
upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon
the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were
covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains
were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl,
and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth, and every man; all in whose nostrils was the breath of
life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance
was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle,
and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were
destroyed from the earth; and Noah only remained alive, and they that
were with him in the ark.

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty
days.--Genesis vii, 11-24.



NOAH CURSING HAM.


And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and
Japheth; and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of
Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he
drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told
his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid
it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the
nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw
not their father's nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what
his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a
servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed
be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan
shall be his servant.--Genesis ix, 18-27.



THE TOWER OF BABEL.


And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a
plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to
another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had
brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let
us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let
us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole
earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children
of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they
have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be
restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go
down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one
another's speech.

So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the
earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there
confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.--Genesis xi, 1-9.



ABRAHAM ENTERTAINS THREE STRANGERS.


In the selfsame day was Abraham circumcised, and Ishmael his son. And all
the men of his house, born in the house, and bought with money of the
stranger, were circumcised with him.

And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the
tent door in the heat of the day; and he lift up his eyes and looked,
and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet
them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said,
My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray
thee, from thy servant: let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and
wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a
morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on:
for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou
hast said.

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready
quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the
hearth. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and
good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it. And he
took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it
before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did
eat.--Genesis xvii, 26, 27; xviii 1-8.

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares.--Hebrews xiii, 2.



THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM.


And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise,
take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be
consumed in the iniquity of the city. And while he lingered, the men laid
hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of
his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him
forth, and set him without the city.

And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he
said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all
the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. And Lot said
unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord. Behold now, thy servant hath found grace
in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed
unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some
evil take me and I die. Behold now this city is near to flee unto, and it
is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither (is it not a little one?) and
my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee
concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the
which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do
anything till thou be come thither.

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered unto Zoar. Then the
Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord
out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all
the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of
salt.

And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood
before the Lord and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all
the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went
up as the smoke of a furnace.--Genesis xix, 15-28.



THE EXPULSION OF HAGAR.


And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as
he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old
age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him. And Abraham called
the name of his son that was born unto him, whom Sarah bare to him,
Isaac. And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac, being eight days old, as
God had commanded him. And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son
Isaac was born unto him.

And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will
laugh with me. And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah
should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old
age. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast
the same day that Isaac was weaned.

And Sarah, saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had born unto
Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, Cast out this
bondwoman and her son; for the son of this, bondwoman shall not be heir
with my son, even with Isaac.

And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight because of his son.
And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of
the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto
thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And
also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy
seed.

And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of
water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child,
and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of
Beer-sheba.--Genesis xxi, 1-14.



HAGAR IN THE WILDERNESS.


And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of
water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child,
and sent her away; and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of
Beer-sheba. And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child
under one of the shrubs. And she went and sat her down over against him a
good way off, as it were a bow-shot: for she said, Let me not see the
death of the child. And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice
and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called
to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, What aileth thee, Hagar? fear
not, for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up
the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation.
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and
filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with
the lad; and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer.
And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife
out of the land of Egypt.--Genesis xxi. 14-21.





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