Souls at the River Acheron – Works – Sammlung Online

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Die Seelen am Acheron

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Souls at the River Acheron
Date1898

Künstler*in Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl (1860 Temesvár/ Timișoara – 1933 Rom)

ULAN

Object typePainting
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
215 x 340 cm
SignatureSign. rechts unten: A. HIREMY - (HIRSCHL) 98
Inventory number942
Locations Currently not on display
The souls of the dead in human form have congregated on the banks of the Acheron. Accompanied by Hermes Psychopompos, the conveyor of souls, they restlessly wait to cross to the underworld. Approaching on the river, the barge of the ferryman Charon can already be seen. Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl depicted this story from Greek mythology with searing emotional intensity. The realistic representation of the naked, pale, partially veiled bodies is based on photographs. Despite the pathos of the composition, this heightens the nightmarish quality of the work. Following in the footsteps of Hans Makart, Hirémy-Hirschl emulated his grandiose “sensation pictures” while at the same time adhering here to the style of Dark Romanticism, the hallmarks of which are gloom, suffering, and death.

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