Saturn Devouring His Son is the name given to a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It depicts the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus (in the title Romanised to Saturn), who, fearing that his children would overthrow him, ate each one upon their birth. It is one of the series of Black Paintings that Goya painted directly onto the walls of his house sometime between 1819 and 1823.
Goya depicts Saturn feasting upon one of his sons. His child's head and part of the left arm has already been consumed. The right arm has probably been eaten too, though it could be folded in front of the body and held in place by Saturn's crushing grip. The god is on the point of taking another bite from the left arm; as he looms from the darkness, his mouth gapes and his eyes bulge white with the appearance of madness. The only other brightness in the picture comes from the white flesh and red blood of the corpse and the white knuckles of Saturn as he digs his fingers into the back of the body.
 |
| Francisco Goya 1819–1823 Oil mural transferred to canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid |
Goya may have been inspired by Peter Paul Rubens' 1636 picture of the same name. Rubens' painting, also held at the Museo del Prado, is a brighter, more conventional treatment of the myth: his Saturn exhibits less of the cannibalistic ferocity portrayed in Goya's rendition. However, some critics[who?] have suggested that Rubens' portrayal is the more horrific: the god is portrayed as a calculating remorseless killer, who – fearing for his own position of power – murders his innocent child. Goya's vision, on the other hand, shows a man driven mad by the act of killing his own son. In addition, the body of the son in Goya's picture is that of an adult, not the helpless baby depicted by Rubens.
 |
| Peter Paul Rubens Saturn, Jupiter's father, devours one of his sons, Poseidon 1636 Oil on canvas Museo del Prado, Madrid |
This is yet another example of how Mythology becomes an inspitarion of art. In both of this paintings the artists show the fragility of the life in the hands of the god while he savagely devors his son. In both paintings the god is portrayed as strong and robust, while the rapresentation of the son varies alot from one painting to the other. In Goya's painting he shows only his life less body, while in Ruben's painting he shows the excruciating pain in the fragile baby's face.
No comments:
Post a Comment