Bocklin, a Swiss-German, has produced several different versions of this painting. All depict an oarsman and a standing white-clad figure in a small boat crossing an expanse of dark water towards a rocky island. In the boat is an object usually taken to be a coffin whilst the white-clad figure could easily be interpreted as Charon navigating on the Acheron. Bocklin himself provided neither public explanation as to the meaning of the painting nor the title, which was conferred upon it by the art dealer Fritz Gurlitt in 1883. Adolf Hitler, who possessed the Berlin version, was particularly obsessed by this painting. Freud, Lenin and Clemenceau all had a print hanging in their office.

My interpretation commands a vertical composition. The island of Filfla, bathed in strong moonlight, accommodates several cypress trees and a Gothic church inspired by the one that guards the local Addolorata Cemetery. Instead of a straightforward reflection, phantom figures float and flitter on the water surface, reaching out to greet the solitary corpse standing upright on a typical Maltese fishing boat. Towards the stern, a ghostly Charon guides the way, whilst caringly whispering instructions to the shrouded figure. A heavily textured sky and sea set thickly around the night’s protagonists of this eerie setting.

Keith Balzan

 

Related Paintings: FILFLA