Saturn Devouring His Son is a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya. It is traditionally interpreted as a depiction of the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus (known as Saturn in Roman mythology) eating one of his offspring. Fearing a prophecy foretold by Gaea that predicted he would be overthrown by one of his children, Saturn ate each one upon their birth. The work is one of the 14 so-called Black Paintings that Goya painted directly on the walls of his house sometime between 1819 and 1823. It was transferred to canvas after Goya's death and is now in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

Goya depicts a large figure feasting on a human form. The figure's head and part of the left arm have 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 the larger figure's thumbs. The larger figure 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 widely. The only other brightness in the picture comes from the white flesh, the red blood of the corpse, and the white knuckles of the larger figure as he digs his fingers into the back of the body.

Various interpretations of the meaning of the picture have been offered: the conflict between youth and old age, time as the devourer of all things, the wrath of God and an allegory of the situation in Spain, where the fatherland consumed its own children in wars and revolution.

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    • Mindfury [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      time will eventually make your son large and adult, and it will devour your life to do so

    • CTHlurker [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Might have to do with the name of the guy litterally being Time (Chronos). Can't remember if he was named for a power to do with time, or just because he was "old", as in one of the first generations of gods in the Greek pantheon.

    • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Goya painted the black paintings when he was clearly going through some depression shit. They weren't meant for public display, just his house. I don't think he titled them even.

      This painting was the one in the dining room, lol.

      Saturn devouring his son was a subject of other paintings which Goya was likely familiar with as well. He mightve thought it was edgy and cool so decorated his dining room with it over 20 hours or however long it took. Other paintings have more of that theme but they didn't feature Saturn has half crazed or emerging from the darkness or weirdly shaped and gangly, also Saturn's kid being an adult was a weird choice cause Chronos ate them as babies...

      • Parzivus [any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        Painting some shit like this just to hang over your dining room table is pretty cool

        • TerminalEncounter [she/her]
          ·
          2 years ago

          He didn't even hang any of the black paintings. Those mfers were painted directly onto the walls - people removed them after his death and transferred them to canvas.

    • Asa_the_Red [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      Time is the father of all things, as all things exist within its boundaries, but time will also destroy all things as they decay.