A small wooden boat crosses a churning green river, crowded with figures in dramatic poses. To the right, a muscular figure in a blue cloth leans over the edge, grasping an oar and straining to propel the boat forward. Around the boat, naked bodies writhe in the water, their faces contorted in anguish as they clutch at the vessel or each other, some with arms outstretched, others biting or clawing.

The water is rendered with thick, energetic brushstrokes, flecked with white to suggest splashing and foam, while the flesh of the drowning figures glows eerily in the stormy light. The composition is dense and turbulent, with the boat and its passengers pressed into the foreground, surrounded by the desperate forms in the water. The figures are modeled with strong contrasts of light and shadow, and the paint is applied with visible, expressive strokes that heighten the sense of movement and emotion.

In the background to the left, a dark cityscape is visible, with orange flames and smoke rising against a stormy sky. The lower left corner shows a figure biting his own hand, his face twisted in pain and his body pressed against the side of the boat. Along the right edge, another struggling figure clings to the boat, his head barely above the water as he grips the wood.

The light falls most strongly on the pale bodies in the foreground, highlighting their contorted forms against the darker water and sky. This is The Barque of Dante, created by Eugène Delacroix in 1822.