Saturn Devouring His Son

E58926

Saturn Devouring His Son is a haunting and grotesque Romantic-era painting by Francisco Goya depicting the mythological Titan Saturn consuming one of his children, often interpreted as a powerful allegory of madness, time, and human brutality.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Romantic painting
painting
artHistoricalPeriod late Goya
artisticTechnique dramatic chiaroscuro
loose brushwork
basedOn Cronus
surface form: "Greek myth of Cronus"

Roman myth of Saturn
collection Museo Nacional del Prado collection
colorPalette dark
earth tones
commissionedBy not commissioned (personal work)
countryOfOrigin Spain
creator Francisco Goya
culturalImpact iconic image of Romantic horror in art history
depicts Saturn
Saturn devouring one of his children
mythological Titan
genre history painting
height 143 cm
imageSubject nude, mutilated body
wide-eyed monstrous figure
inception c. 1819–1823
interpretedAs allegory of human brutality
allegory of madness
allegory of time consuming all things
reflection of Goya’s pessimism
languageOfTitle Spanish
locatedInTheAdministrativeTerritorialEntity Madrid
locatedInTheCountry Spain
location Prado Museum
surface form: "Museo del Prado"
materialUsed oil paint
movement Romanticism
notableFeature grotesque depiction of a devouring figure
intense expression of horror
stark contrast between figure and dark background
originalFunction mural decoration of Goya’s house
originalLocation Quinta del Sordo
originalTitle Saturn Devouring His Son
surface form: "Saturno devorando a su hijo"
partOfSeries The Black Paintings
surface form: "Black Paintings"
support canvas (transferred)
plaster wall (originally)
theme cannibalism
human brutality
madness
mythology
time
violence
width 81 cm

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

The Black Paintings depicts Saturn Devouring His Son
this entity surface form: "saturn devouring his son"
Francisco Goya notableWork Saturn Devouring His Son
The Black Paintings notableWorkInSeries Saturn Devouring His Son
Saturn Devouring His Son originalTitle Saturn Devouring His Son
this entity surface form: "Saturno devorando a su hijo"

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