Charon Crossing the Styx ポスター

This is a reproduction of Joachim Patinir’s Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx which was completed between 1515 and 1524. The scene is from Virgil’s Aeneid and Dante’s Inferno and mixes in elements from Christian tradition. The largest figure is Charon, the ferryman of the dead across the River Styx, who holds in his boat a human soul. The destination of the soul is either Hell to the right of the painting or Heaven, to the left. Cerebus, the three headed dog, guards the gate of Hades on the right. An angel on the left shore beckons the soul to choose Paradise. The original is an oil on wood which measures 25 by 41 inches. It is in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.