He looks up into the light, his hands at his chest.
Bible in art · Daniel
Daniel in the Lions' Den
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
The engraver Piaud signed this plate at the lower right. In this copy a brown stain has spread across the middle of the old sheet, but the engraving itself stays crisp, from the lions’ manes to the grain of the rock.
A shaft of light falls from an opening above onto Daniel, who stands in a pale robe with his hands at his chest, looking up. Around him in the gloom some seven lions lie, prowl and stare; one climbs a rock behind him. Bones lie on the sandy floor.
From the text
- “they brought Daniel and threw him into the den of lions” (Daniel 6:16)
- “A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den” (Daniel 6:17)
- “shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me” (Daniel 6:22)
The artist’s own
- Light pouring in from above, though the text speaks of a stone sealing the den
- Daniel young and long-haired, although by the time of King Darius he had served in Babylon for many years
- Dry bones on the floor of the den
Details
Daniel
The light
A broad beam slants down through the dark cave.
On the rock
A lioness climbs the rock behind him, tail raised.
Bones
A skull, a rib cage and loose bones lie on the sand.
Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 2, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1874 (acc. 75.267 A) · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.