In Dante’s Divine Comedy, the gluttonous are punished in the Third Circle of Hell, where endless rain and filth symbolize excess and indulgence. Here, a corpulent man represents obesity and food addiction, his dependence on eating portrayed as if he were a chain smoker 🍽️🚬.

Below him stands Cerberus, the cruel and monstrous beast:

“Cerberus, a cruel and monstrous beast, with three throats barks doglike over the people who are submerged there. His eyes are red, his beard greasy and black, his belly large, and his hands clawed; he rends the spirits, flays and mangles them.” (Inferno, Canto VI, vv. 13–18, Dante Alighieri)

In this interpretation, Cerberus is imagined with three canine forms—German Shepherd, Swiss Shepherd, and Akita Inu—marked on a wooden sign. Though Dante does not specify the breeds, this artistic choice emphasizes the beast’s diversity and menace. The food itself lies inside a smoking dinner tray, symbolizing the suffocating addiction to consumption.