Study: La Barca de Aqueronte oil on canvas; 80.65 x 108.59 cm. signed, lower left, 1887

The myth of Charon led to the custom of placing coins in the mouths of the deceased for burial as payment to the boatman for the journey to the other world. The choice of subject matter speaks of Hidalgo's literary interests. The Neoclassical style appealed to him despite its waning popularity because of his own interests in the Classics.

Submitted to the Exposicion General de las Filipinas in Madrid, it is awarded a gold medal. Two years later it is shown at the Paris Exposition of 1889. An International Jury bestows a Silver Medal. No other Filipino Artist reaches this distinction in the major arena of art that is Paris. Art critic André Michel writes in the Journal des Debats: "On the other hand not enough attention, as it deserves. has been paid to 'Dante's Inferno' by Felix R. Hidalgo. There is nothing banal [but on the contrary] much in that group of nude bodies that clash and twist under the oar of the mournful boatman; between the bloody skies and the green water, in a landscape fantastic and cold despite the reflections of fire, where one discovers perpetual nostalgia of solar rays. In the factura [manner of doing] specially, although somewhat subtle and with little relief, appear outstanding qualities of modeling, as agile and skillful handling of the brush and a lyricism of a good kind that separate us completely from vulgarity."

Different Studies of Charon

Over the next few years, La Barca de Aqueronte will do triumphant rounds of the Expositions: taking a Diploma of Honor at the Exposicion General de Bellas Artes in Barcelona in 1891, then a Gold Medal at the Madrid Exposicion Internacional de Bellas Artes in 1893 (the 400th Anniversary of the Discovery of America) where through a Royal Decree dated 7 March 1893, it is purchased for 7,500 pesetas. First hung at the Museo-Biblioteca de Ultramar, it soon finds a permanent home at the Museo Nacional de Pintura de Madrid.