The Souls of Acheron

Souls at the river of the dead

In Greek myth, the Acheron was one of the rivers of the underworld. The souls of the dead gathered on its bank, waiting to be ferried across. Hermes, the messenger god, guided them there.

Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl, a Hungarian-born painter working in Vienna, painted The Souls of Acheron in 1898. The large canvas belongs to the Belvedere in Vienna.

Hermes stands unmoved

At the centre, Hermes stands in a dark cloak and winged hat, holding his staff, the caduceus. He looks down with a cold, closed expression. Around him, the dead reach out and clutch at his cloak, begging.

A crowd of pleading figures

Pale souls press towards him: young and old, men and women, some crowned with flowers, some in despair. Their bodies are painted in cold greys and greens, as if drained of life.

At the left, more souls rise from the shadows, arms raised to the sky.

Even children

At the lower right, small children lie among the souls, under pale drapery. The painting shows that death spares no one. Hermes does not choose; he only leads.

The myth of the underworld

In Greek mythology, the dead were led by Hermes Psychopompos, the guide of souls, to the banks of the underworld’s rivers. There the ferryman Charon carried them across in his boat, if they could pay with a coin placed in their mouth at burial. Those who could not pay were left wandering on the shore. Hirémy-Hirschl shows the crowd of souls pleading at the river’s edge.

Souls pleading for passage

The souls reach up to Hermes, who stands calmly in the centre, looking away. Some cling to his legs, others lift their arms, others fall back in despair. Among them are figures of all ages: young and old, men and women, a mother with a child. The painting shows death as the common fate of humanity, with no exceptions.

Vienna at the end of the century

The painting was exhibited in Vienna in 1898, the same year the Vienna Secession held its first exhibition. Hirémy-Hirschl was a respected academic painter, admired for large mythological and historical scenes. The theme of death and the beyond fascinated artists and writers of the fin de siècle, from Klimt to the Symbolist painters of Belgium and France.

The artist’s life

Adolf Hirémy-Hirschl (1860 to 1933) was born in Temesvár, then in Hungary. He studied in Vienna and became a successful painter. In 1898 he moved to Rome, where he spent the rest of his life. His reputation faded in the twentieth century, but it has revived in recent decades, and The Souls of Acheron is now considered his masterpiece.

Where to see it

The Souls of Acheron hangs in the Belvedere in Vienna. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more masterpieces, explore our top 100 most famous paintings, or read about Simberg’s The Garden of Death.

Questions about The Souls of Acheron

What is the Acheron?

A river of the underworld in Greek myth, where the souls of the dead gathered.

Who is the central figure?

Hermes, the guide of souls, with his winged hat and caduceus.

Where is the original?

Belvedere, Vienna.

When was it painted?

In 1898.

Who ferried souls across the river?

Charon, the ferryman, in exchange for a coin.

Where did Hirémy-Hirschl live later?

In Rome, from 1898 until his death in 1933.

Sources and image credit

• Belvedere, Vienna: online collection
• Wikimedia Commons: Die Seelen am Acheron

Public-domain reproduction of The Souls of Acheron (1898), via Wikimedia Commons (Belvedere). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.