Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

Engraved by H. Pisan, whose name is at the bottom right, this is one of the best-known plates of Doré’s 1866 Bible. Pisan cut the clouds in soft, rounded strokes and the wall in straight ones.

High in a dark, stormy sky Elijah rides up in a chariot drawn by horses, his arm raised; flames stream from beneath it into the clouds. Below, at the foot of a massive wall, Elisha lies back on the stone steps, his cloak spread out, staring up. The light is all in the sky; the earth is in shadow.

From the text

“a chariot of fire with horses of fire appeared” (2 Kings 2:11)

“Elijah went up into heaven in a whirlwind” (2 Kings 2:11)

“My father, my father, the chariots and horsemen of Israel!” (2 Kings 2:12)

The artist’s own

Horses with great wings

Elisha on the steps of a stone building — in the text the two are walking along together

Flames only under the chariot, and a sky of dark clouds

Details

Elijah

The prophet rides upward with his arm raised.

Winged horses

The horses pulling the chariot have great wings.

The flames

Fire streams out beneath the chariot.

Elisha

He falls back on the steps and stares up at the sky.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 102 · 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.