" One bearded man in the bottom right bites the head of another as pale bodies writhe about the title character's party trying to escape damnation and the dark waters of the river Acheron.
The smoke rising from the burning buildings in the left background fills much of the canvas with inky darkness, while the composition of the figures that surround the primary scene was inspired by Rubens' Medici cycle. This work, its artist's first major achievement, caused Thiers to proclaim that "No canvas better reveals the future of a great painter." One bearded man in the bottom right bites the head of another as pale bodies writhe about the title character's party trying to escape damnation and the dark waters of the river Acheron. Phlegyas can be seen from behind as he guides the titular vessel to safety in, FTP, this 1822 work that depicts a boat transporting Vergil and the author of the Inferno, a painting by Eugene Delacroix.
The smoke rising from the burning buildings in the left background fills much of the canvas with inky darkness, while the composition of the figures that surround the primary scene was inspired by Rubens' Medici cycle.
The Barque of Dante