Interpretation of Hidalgo's "La Barca de Aqueronte"
An award-winning Filipino painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo is the artist behind this exquisite work of art, the La Barca de Aqueronte. Third of the seven children of Eduardo Resurreccion Hidalgo and Maria Barbara Padilla, Felix was born in Binondo, Manila on February 21, 1855. He studied Law in the University of Santo Tomas, which he never finished, yet he received a Bachelor in Philosophy in March 1871. He was simultaneously enrolled at the Escuela de Dibujo y Pintura. In 1876, he previewed his La barca (The Native Boat), Vendedora de lanzones (Lanzones Vendor) and other paintings at the Teatro Circo de Bilibid before they were sent to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania of that year. La barca de Aqueronte, a 3666 oil on canvas and allegorical painting, is considered as Hidalgo's most awarded work of art. This painting was awarded a gold medal during the Exposicion General de las Filipinas (International Philippine Exposition) in Madrid. During the Paris Exposition in 1889, the painting was awarded again, this time a silver medal. It has also won other awards such as a diploma of honor from the 1891 Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Barcelona and a gold medal prize at the 1893 Madrid Exposicion Internacional de Bellas Artes during the 400th Anniversary of the Discovery of America. The Government of Spain bought this painting through a royal decree for the amount of 7,500 pesetas on March 7, 1893. 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). A smaller study of the same painting is at the Hidalgo Hall of the Lopez Museum in the Philippines.
La Barca de Aqueronte, a neoclassic painting in style, is based by Felix Hidalgo on his reading of Dante's Inferno while in Italy. Translated in English as The Boat of Charon, the painting’s colossal depiction would be Hidalgo’s interpretation of condemned souls on their journey across the River Acheron towards the place of torment which in Greco-Roman literature is known as Hades. Charon, the one who’s operating the boat, is the main character in the painting. Thus, this work of art must largely revolve around his character and his role in this piece, though some details must be given shallow notice. As what is manifested in this work of art, his eyes look like hollow furnaces on fire, he has a bush of unkempt beard upon his chin, and a dirty cloak hanging from his shoulders. He is infuriately glaring at the souls boarding on the boat .While standing on the edge of the boat against the reddish shade of light that looks like a lake of fire, a shimmering reaper’s blade is set in his two hands. It seems like Charon is ready to send the passengers off the gates of Hades. If we are going to have short glimpse of the ancient mythology, passengers must have a coin in their mouth to pay Charon for their transport. If they could not pay the fee, their bodies had to wander the shores for one hundred years. Back to the painting, these people who are in their nude appearance are attempting to board the boat in no particular order. That is why splashes of water and water that dashed on the other edge of the boat, opposite of Charon’s position, are given heavy emphasis on this painting. Palpably speaking, if we are going to assimilate their situation of transport to real life situation or to the latter day way of transport, theirs is cluttered. The naked bodies in this painting are having a huge dilemma on how to form a queue for a more organized and easy way of boarding. Well, maybe they do not have the concept of what we call “fall in line”. It is vivid enough to see that they are pushing against each other, dominating who’s going to board first. However, if we are going to have a closer look at the chaotic nude bodies, there is this one quite near the rim of Charon’s blade who seems like hesitant or afraid to board. The nude body I’m talking about looks like attempting to escape the journey, grasping the arms of the other boarding passengers, making its way out.
As a tiny detail about the Underworld, there is an area where the Judges of the Underworld decide where to send the souls of the person — to Elysium, to the Fields of Asphodel, or to Tartarus. Elysium or the Elysian Fields is separated from the realm of Hades, and is reserved solely for mortals related to the gods and other heroes chosen by the gods, the righteous, and the heroic, where they would remain after death, to live a blessed and happy life, and indulge in whatever employment they had enjoyed in life. On the other hand, the fields of Asphodel otherwise known as the Asphodel Meadows are the realm of neutrality where the souls of people who are neither good nor evil go. The majority of all souls go here once they are judged. And lastly, Tartarus, the deep abyss, is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked and as the prison for the Titans.
Now, if we are going to study the countenances of the nude bodies in the painting, the feeling of fretfulness or unease could be sensed from them. This is just to say that, oblivious about their fate, they lack the verve of boarding the boat. Or maybe, the other reason could be they are already aware of the judgment, and that is they will be sent to Tartarus. The blistering shade of light at the back of Charon pretty looks like the place of torment— Tartarus. Aside from the fiery shade and the splashes of water which are given heavy emphasis in the painting, the upper part is dimmed and the left side of the painting is lacking some details. This is to wind up that the most important detail in this paining is the ferryman of Hades on his boat, doing his very job. The destination of the passengers and their way of boarding or how many are they in that particular scenario are all up to the interpreters. As a whole, this magnificent painting of Hidalgo is worth all the awards and recognition it did receive. Apparently speaking, he is a very skillful and creative artist to have put the words of Dante’s Novel into a more picturesque way, with which spectators can have an ample insight about the man’s destination after life. Believable or not, it is purely made of imagination. Citations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_barca_de_Aqueronte https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_underworld https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charon_(mythology)
