Purgatory Canto 33

Description of Art: This plate, Purgatory Canto 33, concludes the second cantica of Dante’s Divine Comedy, capturing the final moment of purification before the ascent to Paradise. Dalí presents an angelic figure with opalescent wings hovering over a cloaked, static form—symbolizing the soul’s final purification and readiness to ascend. Rendered in translucent blues, rose-tinged tones, and haloed light, the composition fuses medieval allegory with the artist’s own surreal lexicon. The layered washes and precise wood-block lines evoke both the spiritual threshold and the dream-like suspension of the moment.

The work belongs to the prestigious suite of 100 engravings Dalí created between 1960–64 for Dante’s epic, where each canto is given visual form.