05/28/2026
This illustration depicts the fallen angels after their expulsion from Heaven, descending into the abyss beneath creation. In Christian tradition and later literary works such as Paradise Lost, the fall of the rebel angels became one of the great images of pride transformed into ruin. They are not weak figures, but powerful beings brought down through rebellion against divine order itself.
Rather than portraying the fall as chaotic collapse alone, Gustave Doré fills the scene with motion, scale, and terrible grandeur. The angels still surge forward through the darkness, carrying the remnants of heavenly majesty even as they descend toward damnation. Their defeat is absolute, yet their rebellion has not vanished.
The image captures a recurring theme throughout biblical and literary tradition: pride refusing submission even after judgment has already been rendered. The tragedy of the fallen angels is not merely that they were cast out, but that they chose separation from Heaven itself.
The Fallen Angels Fly Over Hell
Gustave Doré | 1866
