Landscape with Charon Crossing the Styx is a painting by the Flemish Northern Renaissance artist Joachim Patinir dating to c. 1515–1524. It depicts the classical subject related by Virgil in his Aeneid (book 6, line 369) and Dante in the Inferno (book 3, line 78). The larger figure in the boat is Charon, who transports the souls of the dead to the gates of Hades. The passenger is a human soul deciding between Heaven, to the left, or Hell, to the right. The river Styx divides the painting down the centre. On the right side is Patinir's vision of Hell, drawing largely on Boschian influences. In front of the gates is Cerberus, a three-headed dog, who guards the entrance of the gate and frightens all the potential souls who enter into Hades. The soul in the boat ultimately chooses his destiny by looking toward Hell and ignoring the angel on the river-bank in Paradise that beckons him to the more difficult path to Heaven. (Wikipedia)
Canvas print stretched on wood frame.