Kittaine
I tried looking for this in the index but didn't find it. So I guess I'll start things off.
In the King of Pentacles, a dark man stands atop a huge structure of some sort. He is positioned between two gargoyles that are facing him, their tongues sticking out. The man has his arm extended and placed on the left gargoyle's horn (our left). Is he using the gargoyle as a support, to keep himself from falling off? We do notice that his left foot (again, our left) is about halfway off that building.
The bottom part of the card has three arches. The middle arch contains the pentacle, while the two arches on both sides contain crouched gargoyles whose mouths are agape. Above this, and right below the man, we see two demonic faces on the left and right. Their tongues curve the same way as the one in the Two of Cups. Between these two demon carvings is a different one--one that bears its fangs.
This whole structure could be a castle, and the man could be its King. But, it could very well be a gate--the Gate of Hell to be more exact. We get that idea because between the two sets of designs, the inscription writes: "ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE."
I checked Allen Mandelbaum's translation of Dante's Inferno, and this is the whole inscription above the Gate of Hell (this may be unnecessary, and most of you probably know this passage already, but for the sake of clarity and completeness...):
"THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY,
THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN,
THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST.
JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER;
MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY,
THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE.
BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS
WERE MADE, AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY.
ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE."
Of course, Dante didn't understand this. So Virgil explained: "Here one must leave behind all hesitation; here every cowardice must meet its death."
In the King of Pentacles, a dark man stands atop a huge structure of some sort. He is positioned between two gargoyles that are facing him, their tongues sticking out. The man has his arm extended and placed on the left gargoyle's horn (our left). Is he using the gargoyle as a support, to keep himself from falling off? We do notice that his left foot (again, our left) is about halfway off that building.
The bottom part of the card has three arches. The middle arch contains the pentacle, while the two arches on both sides contain crouched gargoyles whose mouths are agape. Above this, and right below the man, we see two demonic faces on the left and right. Their tongues curve the same way as the one in the Two of Cups. Between these two demon carvings is a different one--one that bears its fangs.
This whole structure could be a castle, and the man could be its King. But, it could very well be a gate--the Gate of Hell to be more exact. We get that idea because between the two sets of designs, the inscription writes: "ABANDON HOPE ALL YE WHO ENTER HERE."
I checked Allen Mandelbaum's translation of Dante's Inferno, and this is the whole inscription above the Gate of Hell (this may be unnecessary, and most of you probably know this passage already, but for the sake of clarity and completeness...):
"THROUGH ME THE WAY INTO THE SUFFERING CITY,
THROUGH ME THE WAY TO THE ETERNAL PAIN,
THROUGH ME THE WAY THAT RUNS AMONG THE LOST.
JUSTICE URGED ON MY HIGH ARTIFICER;
MY MAKER WAS DIVINE AUTHORITY,
THE HIGHEST WISDOM, AND THE PRIMAL LOVE.
BEFORE ME NOTHING BUT ETERNAL THINGS
WERE MADE, AND I ENDURE ETERNALLY.
ABANDON EVERY HOPE, WHO ENTER HERE."
Of course, Dante didn't understand this. So Virgil explained: "Here one must leave behind all hesitation; here every cowardice must meet its death."