Cerburus, the Black Dog of Hades - from the Picture Book for the Red Cross 

Edmund Dulac, a French-born, British naturalized artist, created this illustration of Cerberus for "Picture Book for the Red Cross." Published during World War I, the book was part of a larger effort to support the British Red Cross. Dulac draws on classical mythology, presenting Cerberus, the multi-headed hound that guards the gates of the Underworld, as a fearsome, almost surreal beast. Yet, it's the woman who commands our attention. Armed with a lyre, she seems to represent the civilizing power of art and beauty. In a war-torn world, Dulac suggests that art, like the Red Cross, can serve as a beacon of hope. Dulac’s style, influenced by both Western and Eastern artistic traditions, creates an ethereal, dreamlike quality, softening the harsh realities of war, while hinting at deeper, timeless struggles between light and darkness, life and death.