More on Dante's Inferno (Cantos 1+2)

This image is from the very beginning of Canto 1. Dante has gone astray, onto a path "in a gloomy wood." This is described in the first two lines of his Inferno. It is also the First Circle of Hell, Limbo. Limbo is a place of solitude and sorrow without torment.

Here Dante is with the leopard on the hill. The leopard wouldn't let him pass to travel up the hill, but continuously made him turn to travel back down.

After the leopard, Dante is greeted by a lion. He's even more afraid at this time than he was with the leopard.

Dante is next met by a "grim she-wolf" that is "roaring with hunger." As Dante started to run away, down the hill, "someone appeared - one who seemed nearly to fade..." This "someone" went by the name of Virgil and was sent by Beatrice, Dante's lost love, to guide Dante on a journey.

This image just shows Dante following Virgil through the woods. This begins their journey with Virgil as the guide.