CHARON
In 2018, Bröckl worked on a topic from ancient Greek mythology in an extremely intense way: More than 40 oil paintings are dedicated to “Charon”, the aged ferryman. According to tradition, “Charon” leads the deceased from the “upper world” on this side via the Acheron or Styx, the water of horror, into the underworld, the realm of Hades, ruler of the underworld. “Charon” has been depicted by famous artists throughout art history. In Michelangelo’s work, for example, the figure of “Charon” appears in the painting of the Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel (1536/41), where he drives the damned out of his boat into hell. In an illustration for Dante’s “Divine Comedy”, the French artist Gustave Doré has “Charon” appear erect with sparkling eyes in “Inferno” (1861).
Dr. Werner Chrobak