The Dove Sent Forth from the Ark
Gustave Doré, 1866 · Genesis 8:11
The passage
And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.
Genesis 8:11
About this plate
The ark is aground on the ridge at the top of the plate, enormous and plain, more barn than boat. Below it the ground falls away into a ravine, and the ravine is full of bodies, people and animals tangled together on the rocks to left and right, with water still running down the middle.
The dove is in the exact centre, and it is tiny. A white flick, coming towards you, out of the ark and over all of that. At this size you cannot even make out the leaf in its mouth.
The verse is nothing but good news. The dove came in to him in the evening with an olive leaf pluckt off, and by it Noah knew the waters were abated from off the earth. Relief, in one sentence.
Doré lets you have the relief. He only makes you look at what it had to fly over to reach you.
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