A young winged figure leads the way and points ahead.
Bible in art · Acts
Peter Delivered from Prison
Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw
H. Pisan, who cut many of the darkest blocks of Doré’s Bible of 1866, signed this one in capitals at the lower right.
It is night. The moon breaks through ragged clouds, and its light falls on the steps of the prison. A young angel with tall wings leads Peter down; Peter, wrapped in his cloak, bends forward and looks back. Around them the guards sleep in helmets and armor, one still holding his spear, another sprawled on the ground.
From the text
- “an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell” (Acts 12:7)
- “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” (Acts 12:8)
- “They passed the first and second guards” (Acts 12:10)
The artist’s own
- Moonlight and an open sky, while the text speaks of light shining in the cell
- Roman helmets and armor on the sleeping guards
- Peter barefoot, though the angel told him to put on his sandals
Details
The angel
Peter
Wrapped in his cloak, he follows down the steps.
The moon
A bright moon shows between the clouds.
A sleeping guard
A soldier lies asleep against the wall, his helmet tipped back.
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.