''La barca de Aqueronte'', translated in English as ''The Boat of Charon'' or ''Charon's Boat'', is an 1887

oil on canvas Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on wood panel or canvas for several centuries, spreading from Europe to the rest of ...

and

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory th ...

paintingLa Barca de Aqueronte by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
, lopezmuseum.org.ph by award-winning Filipino painter

Félix Resurrección Hidalgo Félix Resurrección Hidalgo y Padilla (February 21, 1855 – March 13, 1913) was a Filipino artist. He is acknowledged as one of the greatest Filipino painters of the late 19th century, and is significant in Philippine history for having been an ...

. The work was a gold medalist during the Exposicion General de las Filipinas (International Philippine Exposition) in Madrid. In 1889, an international jury made the painting a silver medalist during the Paris Exposition, a distinct recognition that no other Filipino painter had achieved at the major art arena in Paris. The painting also won other awards such as a diploma of honor from the 1891 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Barcelona, a gold medal prize at the 1893 Madrid Exposicion Internacional de Bellas Artes during the 400th Anniversary of the

Discovery of the Americas The prehistory of the Americas (North America, North, South America, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean) begins with people migrating to these areas from Asia during the height of an ice age. These groups are generally believed to have ...

. The

Government of Spain gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua , image = , caption = Logo of the Government of Spain , headerstyle = background-color: #efefef , label1 = Role , data1 = Executive power , label2 = Established , da ...

bought the work of art through a royal decree for the amount of 7,500 pesetas on March 7, 1893.“La barca de Aqueronte” by Félix Resurrección Hidalgo
, thecrushingblow.net After displaying the artwork at the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar (Ultramar Library Museum) and at the Museo de Arte Moderno., ''La barca de Aqueronte'' is currently placed at Madrid’s Museo Nacional de Pintura (National Museum of Paintings), after the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

became a

United States territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...

in 1898.Felix Ressurreccion Hidalgo
, kulay-diwa.com A smaller study of the same painting in the collection of the Lopez Museum in the Philippines.Go, Kitt
La barca de Aqueronte by Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo
, from the article “Sotheby's to auction Hidalgo's 'La Parisienne'”, Inquirer News Service, inquirer.netRapadas, Don G

, Breadth of Philippine Art, The Past is Just Nearby, Two private museums within the metropolis tell our history and describe our identity, Leisure, Philippine Business Magazine, Volume 8, No. 6, philippinebusiness.com ''La barca de Aqueronte'' became Hidalgo's most awarded work of art. By winning in international exhibitions through ''La barca de Aqueronte'' and his other paintings '' Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas al Populacho'' and '' Adios del Sol'' during the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Hidalgo's “mark of having arrived as a painter” and his place in Philippine Art, history of Philippine Art, and the “popular mind” became secured.Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo Collection
, lopezmuseum.org.ph Hidalgo was also a recipient of the 1889 Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur.

Description

''La Barca de Aqueronte'' is a Neoclassic-style painting based by Hidalgo on his reading of Dante's ''Inferno'' while in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is Hidalgo’s interpretation of damned souls journeying across the

River Acheron The Acheron (; grc, Ἀχέρων ''Acheron'' or Ἀχερούσιος ''Acherousios''; ell, Αχέροντας ''Acherontas'') is a river located in the Epirus region of northwest Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . Its source is ...

towards the gates of hell or

Hades Hades (; grc-gre, ᾍδης, Háidēs; ), in the ancient Greek religion and myth, is the god of the dead and the king of the underworld, with which his name became synonymous. Hades was the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, although this also ...

. The protagonist of the painting is the boatman of classical mythology named

Charon In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...

, who is depicted as the personification of the merciless harvester of condemned souls with "eyes of coal" glaring forebodingly from the shadows at the boarding commuters. Charon is presented at the right side of the canvas as a lone figure with a shroud. He was positioned in opposition to a red-colored sky. Charon’s facade is forbidding and obscured in the shadows and his

oar An oar is an implement used for water-borne propulsion. Oars have a flat blade at one end. Rowers grasp the oar at the other end. The difference between oars and paddles is that oars are used exclusively for rowing. In rowing the oar is connecte ...

is glinting like the

rapier A rapier () or is a type of sword with a slender and sharply-pointed two-edged blade that was popular in Western Europe, both for civilian use (dueling and self-defense) and as a military side arm, throughout the 16th and 17th centuries. Impor ...

of a slayer. An

offset Offset or Off-Set may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Off-Set", a song by T.I. and Young Thug from the '' Furious 7: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' * ''Offset'' (EP), a 2018 EP by singer Kim Chung-ha * ''Offset'' (film), a 200 ...

on the left side of the image is the “diagonal disturbance” composed of plummeting and helpless unclothed bodies heading into Charon’s water vessel. The “diagonal movement” on the left-side of the painting is described to be subdued shades of pink and blue in “strong tension” with the right side of the work of art. This portion of the painting is the steady “solitary form” in black color going against the shimmering red backdrop. Measuring 80.65 cm x 108.59 cm, ''La barca de Aqueronte'' is a "companion piece" to Hidalgo’s other painting, ''

La Laguna Estigia ''La Laguna Estigia'' (''The River Styx'' or ''The Styx''), also known simply as ''Laguna Estigia'', is an 1887 Greco-Roman painting by Filipino painter Félix Resurrección Hidalgo. It is a companion-piece for Hidalgo's other painting entitled ...

'' ( The River Styx).

Historical background

Hidalgo finished ''La barca de Aqueronte'' in 1887 when he was thirty-four years old. Hidalgo made charcoal studies of Charon that are representative of the divine and nude

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman civilization (; also Greco-Roman culture; spelled Graeco-Roman in the Commonwealth), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and countries that culturally—and so historically—were di ...

heroes molded in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

style. These studies can also be found in the Lopez Museum and Library collection. On the same year,

José Rizal José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda (, ; June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896) was a Filipino nationalist, writer and polymath active at the end of the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines. He is considered the national he ...

, key leader of the

Propaganda Movement The Propaganda Movement encompassed the activities of a group of Filipinos who called for political reforms in their land in the late 19th century, and produced books, leaflets, and newspaper articles to educate others about their goals and is ...

, published the novel '' Noli Me Tangere''. Felix R. Hidalgo, Study: La Barca de Aqueronte, oil on canvas, 1887
, Lopez Museum, Manila, November 2, 2009, pezseum

References

External links

*Image o

from the Lopez Museum and Library, Philippines {{DEFAULTSORT:Barca de Aqueronte 1887 paintings Paintings by Félix Resurrección Hidalgo category:19th-century allegorical paintings Paintings in Madrid Maritime paintings Mythological ships Paintings based on works by Dante Alighieri Works based on Inferno (Dante)