“Saturn Devouring His Son,” by Francisco Goya (1820)
This painting is not for the eyes of those with a weak stomach. To call this painting ghastly would be an understatement; if anything, this painting is borderline criminal. There’s a lot of questionable things going on here and honestly the background doesn’t really make it better; so let’s dive into it!
The man, if you could even call him a man, is obviously named Saturn from the title, but who is he exactly? Well to put it simply– he isn’t a man, that’s for sure. This is the Roman God, Saturn, also known as Cronus in Greek mythology. A little fact about his backstory, he overthrew his own father to become an all-powerful ruler, only to find out that it was his own destiny to also get overthrown by his kids; Go-figure that your actions come back full-circle to haunt you.
Insecure and worried for his power and position, Saturn decided to, well, eat his kids. Wouldn’t be my first reaction to learning my kids will overthrow me one day, but whatever floats your boat. It’s unclear which of his kids he is eating in this painting (he ate five out of the six, if you were wondering) but all that really matters is that he is graphically gnawing down on this poor God-child. Child-God. Or Goddess. Horrific.
Don’t worry though! Remember how I mentioned he ate five out of the six? Well, the sixth child that survived was Zeus. Yeah, the thunder guy who rules over all the others in Greek mythology. He did what the prophecy foretold, defeated the child-eater (who is fed a poison that threw up all the children who are somehow unharmed and are just alive???) and happily rules over Olympus. Hooray!
Don’t feel better? Me neither. Let’s take a look at the choices this artist made!
Goya, the artist who made the first painting of Saturn eating his son, had a bit of a trademark for using a lot of dark pigments (and subjects) in his works. So much so, that the mural paintings that decorated his house became known as the Black Paintings. As you can see here, this pretty picture checks off both of those boxes. And aside from the literal interpretation, there isn’t much metaphorically to really delve into. Some art experts have theorized that the image may symbolize the autocratic Spanish state, “devouring” its own citizens; others view Saturn as representation of the French Revolution, or even Napoleon.
To really conclude, maybe don’t eat your kids to stop a future revolution. Anyways, I’m gonna go get dinner now.
Sources:
- https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103RQE
- https://www.19thcenturyart-facos.com/artwork/saturn-devouring-his-children
- https://www.museodelprado.es/en/the-collection/art-work/saturn/18110a75-b0e7-430c-bc73-2a4d55893bd6
- http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/paintings-analysis/saturn-devouring-his-son.htm
I love your conversational tone here! Absolutely hilarious to read, especially from someone who used to be really into Greek mythology as a kid! The tone really engages the mind and allows you and your reader to enjoy this analysis. I didn’t know that this artist was known for his dark subject matter, but that seems kind of obvious now after reading this. I also never understood how his children came out whole and alive after being devoured – I always thought that Cronos was large enough to swallow them whole, but this painting really challenges that assumption (graphically so). I also think it’s humorous how there’s a possibility that it could represent something deeper in relation to the French Revolution, but it’s equally possible it could just be a graphic painting. Wonderful analysis!
I too loved your conversational tone here, and I liked hearing your some of your humor through your writing. I feel like that aspect helped me to get to know you a bit better, which is nice. This was so interesting for me to read because I always love looking at art, but sometime interpreting it is super hard for me, so its nice to have you break down those paintings. It was cool to read about the greek mythology in this painting, because when I was younger I was also interested in it a-lot (idk if it was like a phase for us all). Great Job!