Dante and Virgil in front of Charon’s Boat

The scene depicts a famous episode of the Divine Comedy, a poem which had been rediscovered as an incomparable repertoire of terrible images and sublime themes. In the scene, Dante and Virgil are discussing with Charon, set against a sulphurous and disturbing background. Vetri’s painting shows his progress towards a Realistic approach which was impacting on the genre of historical painting in Naples and resulted in realistic anatomical features of the damned.