Hell Gallery

The Income Tax Official in Hades by H. M. Bateman

A tax man from the Inland Revenue suffering his worst nightmare - locked in a cage suspended over a pile of cheques and money he cannot reach. Cartoon by H. M. Bateman who had a particular dislike of tax officials, feelings that were reflected in a number of his cartoons.
1931

© Estate of H M Bateman/ILN/Mary Evans Picture Library

Bateman, Caged, Cartoon, Cartoons, Grasping, Greed, Greedy, Hades, Hell, Henry, Hm, Humorous, Humour, Income, Inland, Lampooning, Locked, Mayo, Money, Nightmare, Official, Revenue, Satire, Satirical, Tax, Taxes

Dante's Inferno, suicides and the Harpies

Dante's Inferno. Canto XIII, line 11: 'Here [suicide tree] the brute Harpies make their nest' (at right: Dante and Virgil). Italian poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) wrote his epic poem 'Divina Commedia' (The Divine Comedy) between 1308 and his death in 1321. Totalling 14, 233 lines, and divided into three parts (Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso), it is considered the greatest literary work in the Italian language and a world masterpiece. It is a comprehensive survey of medieval theology, literature and thought. Artwork by French artist Gustave Dore (1832-1883); engraving from 'The Vision of Hell' (1868), Henry Francis Cary's English translation of the Inferno.

© MIDDLE TEMPLE LIBRARY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

The Divine Comedy, by Dante: The Giant Antaeus

The Divine Comedy, by Dante: The Giant Antaeus stoops down and lifts up Dante and Virgil, before lowering them at the bottom of the abyss. 'As appears The tower of Carisenda, from beneath Where it doth lean, if chance a passing cloud So sail across that opposite it hangs : Such then Antaeus seem'd', (Inferno, Canto 31, lines 127 - 131). Drawn by Gustave Dor, French artist, b January 6, 1832 January 23, 1883. Engraver unknown.

© Lebrecht