Fun fact: one of the leading theories of what fransico goyas illness was is lead poisoning which caused him to be deaf and have many other ailments 20 years after he died the a new term was created for lead poisoning it was called saturnism. The same thing that caused Goya to go mad and paint himself as a scared depiction of saturn was later called saturnism.
This is because in alchemy, the planet Saturn is associated with lead, so he basically painted a representation of his illness as a beast devouring flesh
I believe, in the Nerdwriter video, it's mentioned that this painting was in Goya's dining room. That just adds a bit more of a macabre touch to the whole thing. While horrible in its subject matter and portrayal, I've always found this painting also a little sad. Saturn does not look like a happy camper, at all, and in the context of Goya's having lost six out of seven children, there seems to be an added level of pathos.
@@TheCanvasArtHistory what I find interesting is that he painted on the walls of the house, I think he likely wanted to make it extremely difficult to move or cover the paintings as a way to punish himself during his dying years.
Imagine being the one to discover the black paintings, you’re going through the house of a man who just died and painted directly on the walls of his house are these dark eerie paintings with no titles or descriptions. And this one, Saturn devouring his son, was found in his dining room, again with no title or description whatsoever.
As any other human being, i would say that house must be cursed or something. I don't know if at first your thinking would be lead by ratipnality, but rather by shock over how disturbing those where.
The thing nobody mentions is that Goya did not name this painting- it was named posthumously when found in his house. It may not be depicting Saturn at all or have anything to do with the Roman myth.
@Someone who's harnessed the harness the general knowledge many have on this painting is to reference it with his others, or of artists in general- named and made for show. The unspoken allure of this painting and all of the Black Paintings is they were never intended to be shown publicly and have no name or explanation from the artist. We are left only with the raw images a long dead painter nearing the end of a life defined by pain.
Man, I always thought Saturn's expression was wild and feral, but now I absolutely see the sadness in his eyes, and I'm surprised I never saw it before...
I never had the courage to look closely at it so I saw the wild and feral expression as well. I didn't expect to see the literal horror in my man's eyes 😬
Its just insanity in my opinion like when u dont even know what to feel anymore because these emotion good and bad just mixing and creating horrid amalgamation.
You talked about the pain and fear in Saturn's eye's. I think you should take a look at the painting "Ivan the terrible and his son Ivan" by Ilya Repin. The themes, I think are very similar.
I actually made a video about that painting! I thought of linking it while writing the script, but then decided against it. I'm happy someone else did the link!
Recently I have a conversation with an artist friend who said the role of the art critic is dead, I'd like to think this channel proves it is very much alive. Wonderful analysis, thoughtfully presented.
I think the word critic is too subjective for most people. I think people interpretering it and explaining that view to others based on knowledge and “critical thinking” is different than people saying it’s good or not. Think noone can say something is good or not, giving people that power is counterintuitive to art imo
_"I think Goya sees himself as Saturn. Goya painted himself as the monster."_ I thought this painting is based on the Roman myths, but I never expected to hear such a heartbreaking plot twist in history of arts.
I am no expert, but I believe many depictions of classic myth and folk tales end up having a double meaning that way, or to put it another way, they are reinterpreted to apply to the era they're depicted in. it's sort of like a shorthand, because we all know who saturn is and why he's devouring his son without the painting needing to explain that to us, so it's able to tell more of a story than it would be if this was depicted as just some random man eating a body!
That's an interesting interpretation. Personally, as Saturn was the titan of time, I think this is an allegory on how time consumes everything in its path, even gods and beliefs. Also, you see sadness in Saturn's eyes, which, again, is a legitimate interpretation, but what I see is madness and ferociousness. He's not happy to be devouring his son, to be sure, but I don't think he's desperate either. I think he's just doing this out of instinct, not even knowing what he's doing.
Actually Saturn is Cronos, who represented chaos You’re mistaking him with the other one Chronus who represented linear time, he had nothing to do with eating Zeus/Jupiter
@@EliasPluto Not seeing anything to suggest that Saturn represented Chaos and not time. It seems that all the different spellings (Chronus, Cronos, Kronos, etc) are just different interpretations of the same name.
@@hirocheeto7795 to quote a comment on this video: ruclips.net/video/-0lm5VQPKs0/видео.html “[the difference is] Simple, Cronus is the Titan Lord of Time, specifically destructive time and the time of harvest. Chronos is the primordial essence of time itself” So they’re different gods with different meanings of time
@@EliasPluto Kronos also called (Cronus) is [Saturn] in Roman Mythology, and is the Titan father of Zeus [Jupiter]. The Greek god of time is Chronos, who is a primordial form of Kronos, while Zas is the primordial form of Zeus. Just different spellings and pronunciations. The Romans were heavily influenced by the greeks. Romans also followed after Greek mythology except by adding different names to them. Chronos and Cronus are the same figures except given other names from different groups
I also saw Saturn as an ugly combination of death and time. Both unstoppable, both unpredictable, both filled with anguish and despair. The monster and the victim both unable to stop the inevatable.
I remember seeing this painting for the first time back in elementary, when I opened a book about cyclopes. It was so jarring and horrifying but I couldn't look away. It was just so raw that I became enamored. Probably my first instance of truly emotional art.
never heard of Goya before, and I gotta admt I never been a fan of paintings. But the video about Stanczyk and now this one made me realize how intresting paintings can be. In school you always learn about the same hndful of artists... And I have to admit the more darker themed paintings, like that are actually pretty damn intresting... Also I'm now gonna binge watch videos about Goya's dark paintings, so...
It's all about knowing the stories behind the art for sure, that's when it becomes something else entirely beyond merely a physical object. I cannot get enough of artist biographies, I feel like dead artists are long lost friends I have so much love for them all 🙈
I have nothing to say - these videos are just consistently wonderful. You're opening up whole worlds of art to me that might otherwise have remained closed, and I'm sure I'll be grateful for the rest of my life
You did an excellent job in illustrating, through the montage and the paintings that you picked, Goya's decline in health and the stylistic changes in his artistic production throughout his life. Your interpretation taps into the depths of the personal in order to humanize the monster we see. Thus, changing my perception of Saturn Devouring his Son: where I saw a monster capable of the most despicable sin, which I dare to say and in accordance with your interpretation was exactly how he perceived himself and wanted to be seen, I now see the desperation of a painter to express his most unspoken inner guilt. Just wow!
In school I had to do a report about this painting and in my research a lot of people interpreted it as his relationship with his living son. As goya lost it in his later years he avoided his son and they didn't get along.
And, despite the fact that he was doing all this art commenting on how superstitious people were, it’s ironically plausible that-since faith was still a part of people’s lives despite The Enlightenment-he may have defaulted to guilt and self-loathing. He’s Saturn because he believed that God was saying he’d devoured his children by having thrown himself into his work. “If you didn’t have time to be a Dad, I’ll make it easier for you.”
I’ve seen the painting in real life and I’ve never had a physical reaction to a painting, but it really shook me. I’m not the only one too, because both of my sisters had to leave the gallery entirely due to them being so disturbed
Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell anyone about the painting, this was a private painting of his own life, he wasn’t trying to depict Spain desolving back into their old ways
I really love your interpretation. I don't know why but when you started talking about how panicked Saturn was it hit me hard on how disturbing this painting really is --- also those wide eyes are just so terrifying. especially when zoomed in and with the ominous piano in the background 😭
FunFact: I‘m an art historian and Goya has always been one of my favorite artists. This painting in particular has always been a favorite of mine and so naturally I love prints of it. That’s why I got myself a skateboard deck with the design. When I skated it first, I had a horrible fall on the road and almost ripped a knee tendon all while trying not to get run over. Whenever I think of this moment, I find it only adds to the painting. No other of my boards has ever gotten me this close to my demise and I think it‘s more than fitting that this one did. (I still love the painting and the board though 😇)
I like this analysis but, I find it interesting that the rest of the paintings have connections to Goya’s own life or death, which makes me wonder if Saturn is actually involved at all. We have seen Saturn eats his babies in other depictions of the event and realistically as a titan ruler with a prophecy that your children will defeat you it doesn’t make sense to let them grow in the first place as a baby is about as vulnerable of an enemy you’ll get. The name of the painting wasn’t assigned by Goya, and the child not being young doesn’t make sense in the context of trying to prevent your children from taking your throne. The way that goya depicts Spain when he is young and as nerd writer had said Spain was in Goya’s youth particularly interests me, along with Goya’s fear of death and sad state of living when he got older. In my opinion I think it’s possible that the person eating the young man in this painting is Goya and so is the man being eaten. Old Goya is saving himself from seeing the future and from painting any of these horrible images, which correlates with the fact that Goya’s painting hand and his head are gone. Edit: I thought about something else, a few of the paintings are actually bleaker representations of paintings or events he had already painted, this correlates with the idea that the man in the painting is a worn down version of Goya himself, I saw a video talking about how watching what was previously a funny video had turned kind of sad Bc of what had happened to the people in the video, a few had passed others had failed and a couple even died but the point is that this video was once this very funny thing just like the paintings Goya did in his youth were lovely and showed his depiction of those events at the time. I think it’s like a pilgrimage idk and I don’t want to find it in the video but it’s towards the end its a much darker version of the same people in a field and Goya knowing that Spain has fallen in the time since, he retreats to his deaf house or whatever, ponders on death, life, and what he could save himself from if he forced himself to go back and devour the young Goya so as to save him from what Goya sees as a worse fate
the thing about the prophecy saturn was so afraid of though, that he would be killed by one of his children, only became true after he became a terrible monster by way of eating his children. so zeus/jupiter would never have killed him if he hadn't been so afraid of the prophecy
I always felt this painting was more personal like you said, but I never knew Goya lost as many children as Saturn ate. I really appreciate that you gave us all the pieces without putting the puzzle together, it leaves my interpretations to spin at a mile a minute
Hi! I'm from Spain and I've seen this picture on history and art class. The explanation the teachers gave me to this specific picture is that the king said he would apply the enlightment on the whole country and motivated the people to fight in the war against france, but when spain won, the king betrayed us. The king wanted the old government again, and Goya painted this as the king consuming his own people. I love your interpretation cause I didn't know goya had 7 children (same as saturn) and 6 of them died before the moment he painted that. Nice video!
The Painting’s themes I think represent the devolution of man into beast. Saturn had devolved into a beast, but his mind still was intact for a time after. He was aware of his actions, aware of his gruesome murder and consumption of his children, however he was no longer in control. He couldn’t stop himself from devouring his children, and yet he was still present in mind. A monster killing and eating people is terrifying as is, but a monster with its human mind still intact and aware of what’s happening is so much worse. Perhaps that’s what makes Bloodborne’s first act so disturbing for me, moreso than the cosmic horror acts. The beasts you fight are transformed to varying extents and intensities, however many of them seem also to be aware of what’s happening both to them, and of what they’re doing to others.
I wonder what these paintings look like under candle light. I mean that’s how they were seen back then I bet the light flickering off of it would be amazing and spooky
When I was a child I was interested in mythology etc. (like right now). This painting was in one of my books, and I was probably more afraid of this painting than death. :)
I appreciate the research you did to make this video. It was very interesting. I don't really have a take on the matter, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Thanks for the video! :)
This is such a well made video! I luckily got to see the black paintings in person in Madrid, and they’re truly incredible to bestow. Such bold streaks and dramatic lighting, with more emphasis on the horrid emotions than looking “realistic,” I remember staring at this one picture in particular, as I had already learned of the myth of Saturn. When I was learning this, many pictures came up as Saturn looking like the devil, the “ultimate evil” against the Greek gods. But your analysis of this painting made me remember why I gravitated to it so much… Because it was human.
I saw that painting in Madrid, Spain when I was 8 years old...it never faded from my memory. Of all the art I saw that summer, that is the one I remember clearly. It scared me to death. I was riveted with fear. I even can see the room I was standing in, surrounded by masterpieces, but they are all faded. I sense my parents near me. It took me years to get over the fright I felt in those moments. I like your interpretation very, very much. The pain of loosing one's children must be horrifying, absolutely.
May I also add that being the padre de familia, and this painting being in the kitchen, being so alone with death so presemt all throughout his life and painting because he saw it in his unconscious slowly becoming conscious, all those thoughts as he ate and dined almost completely alone, with Saturn Devouring his Son being a constant reminder to his survivor's guilt and believing he had failed his children by allowing them to die by fate, or of an unknown prophecy.
When i went to prado museum my favorite room was the Goya black paiting, i was totally absoberd by the asmosphera. My family continued with the visit but i stayed like 45 minutes watching the black paintings without exagerating. Is incredible go to Madrid and watch it, for me my favorite paintor of all time
They make the Saturn paintings really terrifying but in the myth he swallowed them whole. He even swallowed a rock thinking it was Zeus. Spoiler alert: Zeus came back and killed Him freeing his sisters and brother. The most popular being Hades and Poseidon arguably.
Same story different gods, easy mistake though, Saturn is part of Roman myth whereas in the Greek version it was Kronos eating Poseidon and Hades with Zeus being the 1 to return and free his brothers Romans plagiarized alot of beliefs from their neighbors
@@chris30555 I mean, I did say they plagiarized alot from their neighbors including some stuff from the Etruscans and even some Gallic and Iberian mythos and craftmanship, their famous Gladiolus was literally copy and pasted from the Iberian tribes in modern day Spain Still, gotta respect them for being the ones who brought so many things together and using it to advance themselves and by extension the majority of the known world at the time
Amazing video once again. I wanted to let you know that your videos have sparked a deep artistic and intellectual interest within me, prompting me to think differently all together. One of the college essays that I recently wrote was even inspired by your video about Napoleon’s paintings. Keep up the incredible work.
@@TheCanvasArtHistory the topic I chose was to write about anything I’m interested in. I wrote about historical art, citing JLD’s depictions of Napoleon, and how it compares to the modern world of social media and its tendencies to manipulate viewers, most notably seen in politics.
Wow. I am in tears after viewing this. I just can’t imagine what Goya went through, but I can feel his pain through the paintings. What an amazing thing art is. Hopefully our time is better than his, and I firmly believe artists like Goya make us strive for a better tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your beautiful interpretations.
I have only cried in the presence of one painting in my life. This painting. Having been told in art class where the painting was located... Knowing it was in his own house. He painted it for himself. Not for me. Not for anyone. He chose to adorn the wall of his own house with this image. I thought, what horrors were visited upon you. What did life give to you to cause you to bring this into existence.... and I cried for Goya. I have only had tears for the man that created this image. I am so sorry Goya. Life gave you some heavy cruelty.
Wow, that was a really interesting theory on the painting's meaning. I would have never thought of that. Thanks for sharing your interpretation. It makes the painting more impactful.
Maaan I absolutely love Nerdwriter's take on this, but yours is even better. Regardless of Goya's true intentions, your analysis is remarkable! You earned my sub, such a cool channel!
I actually did a re-creation of this painting at my high school last year on my senior year. I went to my first period class which was my art class, and we had to pick a piece of art then recreate it by changing 7 things about the painting. ether it’s to add on or changing the piece entirely giving it a new value, and meaning to our piece of art. My art teacher found that I was struggling to find a piece of art to create since a lot of people took very common, and well knowing paintings like the Mona Lisa, or more colorful and bright kinds of paintings. So my art teacher gave me one of her many books full of artist and painting to choice from. However, soon enough I found an art piece that caught my eye. Yes it was the Saturn Devouring his son painting. I never even bothered to reading about the artist, nor what the painting was exactly including its name. I was just so fascinated by the art work, and was completely different from everyone else’s. The more I stared at it, the more I was intrigued. I started by drawing it first, and then printed in on the white canvas. It’s worth noting that I never saw myself as a great painter, especially how much skill it takes to make a fine piece of art, including colors theory. But when I began painting it. I began experiment a lot with trying to find the right colors and mixtures. I guess you could say I was obsession with it. I always had an obsession when it came to mastering new things, or just me enjoying something until I got it right. But this felt different. I don’t know what I really felt, but I wanted to find the same expression on how I felt with this painting. It took me awhile to complete, mind you it was a little over do and I took most of my break’s, and lunch time into this painting. Once I finished it I was quite happy with it. Still proud of it even because it wasn’t only best work, but also came out how I wanted it to be. And my classmates, teachers, friends saw this painting, they felt the same way looking at my painting, like the same way when I first saw what my painting was based from. 1 year later and I found this video, and I see why a bit on what made me so fascinated with it a bit, but once again it’s a feeling that I cannot explain, and only can be expressed by art.
Best decision I’ve made all day was clicking on this video. I love when I find somebody who shares my interpretation and can put it into words much more succinctly
Here's my interpretation: Goya indentifies himself with Saturn because of his age. The painting is an exploration of time's relationship with death, of old age devouring youth. Saturn is depicted as old age devouring a full grown adult, and for Goya it could represent his youth succumbing to what he has become, an old man stepping closer to the void of death. Goya, as Saturn, is anguished because he is not choosing to grow old, he simply has to, time is out of his control yet ultimately controls his fate, and in growing old he has not only lost his mobility, but also his agency (or at least his assumption of having it). As time passes, Goya devours the memories, the accomplishments, and the freedom of his youth, and once that youth is devoured all he will be left with is the monster of old age. His face is anguished not only because he doesn't want to devour his youth or his inability to choose not to, it's the knowledge that with each bite of flesh he comes one step closer to realizing his true fear: being left with nothing but a grotesque mutilation of the man he once was.
This was quite a unique interpretation of the painting's meaning. Definitely wasn't expecting it to be that deep and sad, overall a very excellent video.
@@TheCanvasArtHistory No, don't thank me, I'm not the one spending hours and hours making amazing content and uploading it for everyone to see for free! I've had a really horrible day, and although this video didn't solve my problems it certainly helped to put them in a more manageable perspective somehow. I think that is one of the main reasons for art to exist, it transgresses centuries to bind people together through perceptions of hardships and joys. I love what you do, keep it up!
Wow I'm speechless. Art truly is powerful and I'm happy to part of this neverending discussion. I hope things get better for you Sebastian! You have definitely brightened up my day (if not my week!). Thank you sincerely.
I loved this interpretation! I had always felt like other interpretations left Saturn's expression unaddressed or incompletely described but this gave me a ton of clarity. Now I need to check out more of your videos!
I’m so happy you came up with this conclusion as well. I remember taking Art History in high school and I fell in love with de Goya’s work and this was his most fascinating piece for me. When I did a project on him and looked into his life story I came to the same realization that this was about all his kids who died so young.
If you split Saturns face in half... left side of the face is showing a monster enjoying another bite of its victim right side on the other hand is showing just a man... shocked and terrified by his own actions This whole painting is so fascinating!
I remember seeing this art piece in my art class last year and being so infatuated with it. I am not an art person or someone who is passionate about paintings, but when I saw this for the first time I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it and found myself to be fascinated
Lovely work. I think one of the great things about great art is that it can hold so many interpretations. One can only speculate if this really is a facet of Goya's expression, but it certainly works as a reading. And I think you're touching on something incredibly deep about the horror of facing death. The Myth of Jupiter is by no means the only story of a father destroying his children so he can live forever. Myths and legends are packed with such stories. The tale of Oedipus immediately springs to mind. There's something horrific about the old living on while the young parish, and yet, every generation seems to hold contempt for the generation that comes after, as though deploring their new identities and ideas will somehow stave off our inevitable obsolescence. What makes this image so profoundly horrifying is the undeniable knowledge we see in Jupiter's eyes of his own monstrousness. He's clearly mad, and yet, the worst part is how clear it is that he knows he's mad. Perhaps the greatest horror is the horror of self-knowledge. So yes, I think you've nailed an aspect of the painting that the brilliant Evan Puschak didn't quite touch in, that it is, in all likelihood, a self-portrait. Whether Goya consciously intended it to be so or not is irrelevant. The shoe fits.
Saturn is the one devouring his children, not Jupiter. Jupiter is one of Saturn's children, more specifically the youngest who escapes the fate of being eaten when his mother swaps him out for a rock. Still, you make a great point!
Showing the self-portrait at 8:16 is unequivocally brilliant editing, all of the sudden his torment shines right through what seemed like undisturbed pride before. Beautiful. Thank you.
My Polish teacher (by the way, a great woman!) had her own theory; Saturn is the ruler of the world in this age of Roman mythology ( well, I know, Cronos, but "Saturn" is Roman version, so...) , the most powerful being, he could do so much good things ... but, instead, he devours his own children, which, according to my teacher, meant that at the end of his life Goya was completely disappointed in the world, that the world was ruled by evil, that there was no transcendent good. Considering that Goya survived the Napoleonic Wars, saw the suffering of his countrymen and painted at the behest of the French authorities, and saw the Inquisition's conduct, knowing his disappointment with successive systems, he outlived most of his children ...sounds likely. We talked about it in lesson (we practiced writing essays, one of the topics was the nature of evil in literature and art) I have to add something; Saturn's eyes. It reminds me about conscience's and soul's awareness of good and evil, in these eyes I saw mind that is VERY aware devouring of his own children is worse than monstrous... but his fear before being overthrown by his own son is stronger than sense of morality, conscience, guilt, self-hatred for being a monster, grief, pain, the screams of his children (he bits off the head to not hear their cries for help and mercy)... 7:45 Like Ivan's panic in "Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan", Repin's masterpiece, that always gives me chills.
There are many disturbing, horrifying, and frightening paintings. But I've always found this work by Goya to be in a class of its own. It is horrific in a way that I have never experienced in any other work of art in any genre. It is more than simply "dark". It is every nightmare made flesh. I honestly cannot imagine what Goya was thinking and feeling when he created this terrible masterpiece. But whatever personal hell he inhabited, by some artistic miracle, he was able to abstract and refine his suffering to such a perfect degree that he could cast the form of horror itself in canvas and paint. Goya summoned into being, that great unspeakable abyss, which lies always beneath our feet, but which we never dare to look at. He showed the unspeakable horror we always knew was there, but were too terrified to acknowledge. I feel indebted to him for it, and yet, a part of me wishes he had never succeeded.
I love this channel I subscribed about a week or so ago & I absolutely love hearing ur analysis of these paintings. Iv never even heard of Goya until now, I have no knowledge of art history , but with this channel I hope to learn alot. I love dark paintings & how was the artist feeling & what was he thinking when he painted this dark art. As a survivor of depression I paint what I was feeling at certain times during the darkest days the hopeless days & the feeling that nothing can hurt as bad as living dealing with a horrible past & life just wondering will it ever get better!? 22 yrs later I can say yes it does!! Please post more on dark paintings I'm absolutely fascinated with them. Thanks & glad I found ur channel , also ur voice is so calming & soft I just love it! 🦋
I've had the honor to see the painting in person, it disturbed me when I saw it, so I keep looking more from Goya, and then I found like a painting of some war, and the atmosphere it gave me was terrifying. It is called the executions of May 3 Edit: I see it was referenced on 3:00
It’s the Peninsular War between Napoleon’s forces and Spain. Around 215,000-375,000 Spanish soldiers and civilians died. Goya was in Madrid and witnessed a lot of the war firsthand, which had a profound effect on his mental health.
Goya's life should be known, and a wonderful introduction, if taken in context, is a movie entitled Goya's Ghosts starring Javier Bardem. You are doing a wonderful job with this channel. We, the unsophisticated peasants, thank you.
What's amazing about this painting is that it's actually rather bad. The corpse looks like a mannequin, which makes me think Goya just got the reference from some a reference book or previous notes. The anatomy on Saturn is sloppy, the texture is sloppy, and the eyes feel tacked on. Yet it works. It feels like a desperate attempt to exorcize a feeling of horror and dread at his dead children and his approaching death. He wants to live, he hates himself for wanting to live just a little longer despite his poor health when most of his children never even had a third of what he had. He hates that other painters will eclipse him, he hates how he took money and fame from the very nobility he would grow to resent. All he can do is paint this horrible thing.
It's not bad, it's just not realistic. It's twisted and looks like it was made in a bout of passion- and I think that was the intention, if there was any.
Hahahah I have nothing but admiration for Nerdwriter! Never would I ever diss their work or their analysis! I just wanted to offer a different view on the painting, but I'm happy you enjoyed the video! Your comment made me laugh. Thanks!
@@TheCanvasArtHistory haha, I wasn't implying that you were actually disrespecting nerd writer, just that a differing opinion on a piece of art is the RUclips version of a diss track.
I have a framed print of this above my bed. Its a great conversation peace. I'm obviously dulled to its horror by now but when I first saw it in the intro of the skyrim mod Enderal (where felsh and family are also of some importance) I was frozen in horror for a few seconds
And the painting is at the dining room. And the prophet is the only child who survive. And Daddy suggest the prophet to listen. That's a clear reference to Goya
Thanks for highlighting the pictorial art of Spain. We have way more than Dalí o Picasso. I recently went to Zaragoza (Goya's birthplace city) and visited the Goya Museum. His work of Los Caprichos is fascinating and a privilege to observe in person. I thoroughly enjoyed this video and how accurately presents information about our history Greetings from Spain 🇪🇸
He was actually one of the first war "photographers", in his Disasters of War he painted true events that happened during the Spanish Independence War so people could see the terrors of war.
I feel like the piece shares symbolism in what Kronos/Saturn was the god of: Time. Time which encroaches us all and eventually kills us sometimes slowly and painfully. I believe Goya may have been depicting they body as his own which was once full of life, but is also being consumed over time. The owner of the body appears to have just been at the peak of their life before they were consumed roughly, which may speak on how he felt that time was fleeting so quickly that he didn't even realize he wasn't as young as he once was. I can understand the idea that you might see pain in the face of Saturn, but I see a cold ruthless old man who doesn't show care at all.
Been thinking about this painting for the past few days, rewatching it now At first, I found it horrific, nightmarish Yet after this video, all I can feel looking at this painting is sorrow, mourning and heartache Brilliant video
I honestly think it's just satire on goya's part combined with edginess. Especially when considering it's in the dining room. In other words, goya is based
This is what got me into painting. I was a kid and my brother was doing a homework about the mythology so he was putting this picture on his notebook, I was somehow mesmerized, before that I would see art as just pretty things but this was something so different, so dark if you want to call it that way but it just made me obsessed, then I saw more of Goya's work and got completely fascinated.
Great video. I liked your analysis. Before, I wasn't really familiar with the story behind this painting but every time I see it, I am always fixed on Saturn's eyes.... because they really looked liked almost going to cry and choke, it doesn't look like he's devouring it. It's like eating dinner alone and trying not to cry but you're very sad and feels so much pain, you're eating your sorrow away.
most theories that i come across i don’t really follow, your theory blows everything out of the water, i can really see and feel the theories you have captured in his artwork
Fun fact: one of the leading theories of what fransico goyas illness was is lead poisoning which caused him to be deaf and have many other ailments 20 years after he died the a new term was created for lead poisoning it was called saturnism. The same thing that caused Goya to go mad and paint himself as a scared depiction of saturn was later called saturnism.
This is because in alchemy, the planet Saturn is associated with lead, so he basically painted a representation of his illness as a beast devouring flesh
What a depressing coincidence
Painting himself with the literal substance that was causing the poisoning. Doesn't get much more poetic than that.
Wow that's deep 🤯
They say Emperor Nero went mad because he was drinking leaded water, fascinating.
I believe, in the Nerdwriter video, it's mentioned that this painting was in Goya's dining room. That just adds a bit more of a macabre touch to the whole thing. While horrible in its subject matter and portrayal, I've always found this painting also a little sad. Saturn does not look like a happy camper, at all, and in the context of Goya's having lost six out of seven children, there seems to be an added level of pathos.
Absolutely! The idea that someone would eat every day next to such a painting is disturbing, but mostly sad
Add to that the size of this piece, and I imagine that was quite an imposing thing to share a space with
They say it was a complementary piece to another painting, "Goya Devouring his Lunch"
@@TheCanvasArtHistory what I find interesting is that he painted on the walls of the house, I think he likely wanted to make it extremely difficult to move or cover the paintings as a way to punish himself during his dying years.
I'd hang this in my dining room. Seems like a good use of my time.
Imagine being the one to discover the black paintings, you’re going through the house of a man who just died and painted directly on the walls of his house are these dark eerie paintings with no titles or descriptions. And this one, Saturn devouring his son, was found in his dining room, again with no title or description whatsoever.
Imagine if someone recreated it. Like a macabre art show meets haunted house, that would be an experience.
As any other human being, i would say that house must be cursed or something. I don't know if at first your thinking would be lead by ratipnality, but rather by shock over how disturbing those where.
The thing nobody mentions is that Goya did not name this painting- it was named posthumously when found in his house. It may not be depicting Saturn at all or have anything to do with the Roman myth.
That makes it even more eerie.
@Someone who's harnessed the harness the general knowledge many have on this painting is to reference it with his others, or of artists in general- named and made for show. The unspoken allure of this painting and all of the Black Paintings is they were never intended to be shown publicly and have no name or explanation from the artist. We are left only with the raw images a long dead painter nearing the end of a life defined by pain.
Wow, bizarre how something as small as a title can completely change the meaning/interpretations of an image.
i didn’t know this, that’s incredibly sad
What made them name it after Saturn then if there's no indication (that I know of at least) that it's Saturn?
Man, I always thought Saturn's expression was wild and feral, but now I absolutely see the sadness in his eyes, and I'm surprised I never saw it before...
I never had the courage to look closely at it so I saw the wild and feral expression as well. I didn't expect to see the literal horror in my man's eyes 😬
Oh yeah there's a manic horror in those eyes
I don't see sadness, I see mix of Fear and Madness, a self realasation of what he has done.
Its just insanity in my opinion like when u dont even know what to feel anymore because these emotion good and bad just mixing and creating horrid amalgamation.
You talked about the pain and fear in Saturn's eye's. I think you should take a look at the painting "Ivan the terrible and his son Ivan" by Ilya Repin. The themes, I think are very similar.
I actually made a video about that painting! I thought of linking it while writing the script, but then decided against it. I'm happy someone else did the link!
@@TheCanvasArtHistory I actually painted my own version of Cronos eating his Son and it was part based on "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan"...
@@MagicGriffin Where can I see the painting?
1000th like :0
@@MagicGriffin I would love to see your painting.
Recently I have a conversation with an artist friend who said the role of the art critic is dead, I'd like to think this channel proves it is very much alive. Wonderful analysis, thoughtfully presented.
Thank you so much! It's a lot of pressure to be an example of how the role of the art critic is still alive. It's very kind and appreciated. Thanks!
While your at it tell your friend I said he’s a mango 🥭
Could you elaborate? I'm curious to what exactly his reasoning was for such a statement
He's not wrong. The traditional definitions for a lot of roles have changed over the past few decades.
I think the word critic is too subjective for most people. I think people interpretering it and explaining that view to others based on knowledge and “critical thinking” is different than people saying it’s good or not. Think noone can say something is good or not, giving people that power is counterintuitive to art imo
_"I think Goya sees himself as Saturn. Goya painted himself as the monster."_
I thought this painting is based on the Roman myths, but I never expected to hear such a heartbreaking plot twist in history of arts.
I am no expert, but I believe many depictions of classic myth and folk tales end up having a double meaning that way, or to put it another way, they are reinterpreted to apply to the era they're depicted in. it's sort of like a shorthand, because we all know who saturn is and why he's devouring his son without the painting needing to explain that to us, so it's able to tell more of a story than it would be if this was depicted as just some random man eating a body!
kind words
Those actually are greek myths, but yeah it is sad
@@TheDarkProGaming they shared myths
@@xdraygul5169 the video is literally about where it comes from
That's an interesting interpretation. Personally, as Saturn was the titan of time, I think this is an allegory on how time consumes everything in its path, even gods and beliefs. Also, you see sadness in Saturn's eyes, which, again, is a legitimate interpretation, but what I see is madness and ferociousness. He's not happy to be devouring his son, to be sure, but I don't think he's desperate either. I think he's just doing this out of instinct, not even knowing what he's doing.
Actually Saturn is Cronos, who represented chaos
You’re mistaking him with the other one Chronus who represented linear time, he had nothing to do with eating Zeus/Jupiter
@@EliasPluto Not seeing anything to suggest that Saturn represented Chaos and not time. It seems that all the different spellings (Chronus, Cronos, Kronos, etc) are just different interpretations of the same name.
@@hirocheeto7795 to quote a comment on this video: ruclips.net/video/-0lm5VQPKs0/видео.html
“[the difference is] Simple, Cronus is the Titan Lord of Time, specifically destructive time and the time of harvest. Chronos is the primordial essence of time itself”
So they’re different gods with different meanings of time
@@EliasPluto Kronos also called (Cronus) is [Saturn] in Roman Mythology, and is the Titan father of Zeus [Jupiter]. The Greek god of time is Chronos, who is a primordial form of Kronos, while Zas is the primordial form of Zeus.
Just different spellings and pronunciations. The Romans were heavily influenced by the greeks. Romans also followed after Greek mythology except by adding different names to them. Chronos and Cronus are the same figures except given other names from different groups
I also saw Saturn as an ugly combination of death and time. Both unstoppable, both unpredictable, both filled with anguish and despair. The monster and the victim both unable to stop the inevatable.
I remember seeing this painting for the first time back in elementary, when I opened a book about cyclopes. It was so jarring and horrifying but I couldn't look away. It was just so raw that I became enamored. Probably my first instance of truly emotional art.
never heard of Goya before, and I gotta admt I never been a fan of paintings. But the video about Stanczyk and now this one made me realize how intresting paintings can be. In school you always learn about the same hndful of artists... And I have to admit the more darker themed paintings, like that are actually pretty damn intresting... Also I'm now gonna binge watch videos about Goya's dark paintings, so...
You should also watch Blind Dwellers video on Goyas Black Paintings it is so fascinating and if u like this video u will like that one too
It's all about knowing the stories behind the art for sure, that's when it becomes something else entirely beyond merely a physical object.
I cannot get enough of artist biographies, I feel like dead artists are long lost friends I have so much love for them all 🙈
I agree with you, in school we learn about Jackson fucking Pollock and not stuff like this which is actually interesting.
I have nothing to say - these videos are just consistently wonderful. You're opening up whole worlds of art to me that might otherwise have remained closed, and I'm sure I'll be grateful for the rest of my life
I wasn't aware of the impact my channel could have on someone! I'm so happy to introduce you to what humanity has best to offer: art!
You did an excellent job in illustrating, through the montage and the paintings that you picked, Goya's decline in health and the stylistic changes in his artistic production throughout his life. Your interpretation taps into the depths of the personal in order to humanize the monster we see. Thus, changing my perception of Saturn Devouring his Son: where I saw a monster capable of the most despicable sin, which I dare to say and in accordance with your interpretation was exactly how he perceived himself and wanted to be seen, I now see the desperation of a painter to express his most unspoken inner guilt. Just wow!
Your point of view about Goya's painting is unique and interesting! Your channel's quality is fantastic.
Thank you so much Elissa! I'm doing my best!
8:37 that Saturn jumpscare scared the shit out of me
In school I had to do a report about this painting and in my research a lot of people interpreted it as his relationship with his living son. As goya lost it in his later years he avoided his son and they didn't get along.
That would explain a lot. There's even thought that his son actually painted it or, at least, touched it up. Which says a lot about how he would feel.
@@rosesweetcharlotte I would be interested in hearing more about this theory. Do you perhaps have a source recommendation?
that's fascinating. It's kind of ironic how Javier means "new house", like Goya was fearing the new house like Saturn was fearing Jupiter
And, despite the fact that he was doing all this art commenting on how superstitious people were, it’s ironically plausible that-since faith was still a part of people’s lives despite The Enlightenment-he may have defaulted to guilt and self-loathing. He’s Saturn because he believed that God was saying he’d devoured his children by having thrown himself into his work. “If you didn’t have time to be a Dad, I’ll make it easier for you.”
I’ve seen the painting in real life and I’ve never had a physical reaction to a painting, but it really shook me. I’m not the only one too, because both of my sisters had to leave the gallery entirely due to them being so disturbed
Maybe that’s why he didn’t tell anyone about the painting, this was a private painting of his own life, he wasn’t trying to depict Spain desolving back into their old ways
I really love your interpretation. I don't know why but when you started talking about how panicked Saturn was it hit me hard on how disturbing this painting really is --- also those wide eyes are just so terrifying. especially when zoomed in and with the ominous piano in the background 😭
8:36 when I saw Saturn fade in behind Goya I thought I started seeing shit 😂
@@lilscodripdx390 same lmaooo
FunFact: I‘m an art historian and Goya has always been one of my favorite artists. This painting in particular has always been a favorite of mine and so naturally I love prints of it. That’s why I got myself a skateboard deck with the design. When I skated it first, I had a horrible fall on the road and almost ripped a knee tendon all while trying not to get run over. Whenever I think of this moment, I find it only adds to the painting. No other of my boards has ever gotten me this close to my demise and I think it‘s more than fitting that this one did. (I still love the painting and the board though 😇)
I think it would have been impossible for Goya to paint this without thinking about his own children, there's just no way.
I like this analysis but, I find it interesting that the rest of the paintings have connections to Goya’s own life or death, which makes me wonder if Saturn is actually involved at all. We have seen Saturn eats his babies in other depictions of the event and realistically as a titan ruler with a prophecy that your children will defeat you it doesn’t make sense to let them grow in the first place as a baby is about as vulnerable of an enemy you’ll get. The name of the painting wasn’t assigned by Goya, and the child not being young doesn’t make sense in the context of trying to prevent your children from taking your throne. The way that goya depicts Spain when he is young and as nerd writer had said Spain was in Goya’s youth particularly interests me, along with Goya’s fear of death and sad state of living when he got older. In my opinion I think it’s possible that the person eating the young man in this painting is Goya and so is the man being eaten. Old Goya is saving himself from seeing the future and from painting any of these horrible images, which correlates with the fact that Goya’s painting hand and his head are gone.
Edit: I thought about something else, a few of the paintings are actually bleaker representations of paintings or events he had already painted, this correlates with the idea that the man in the painting is a worn down version of Goya himself, I saw a video talking about how watching what was previously a funny video had turned kind of sad Bc of what had happened to the people in the video, a few had passed others had failed and a couple even died but the point is that this video was once this very funny thing just like the paintings Goya did in his youth were lovely and showed his depiction of those events at the time. I think it’s like a pilgrimage idk and I don’t want to find it in the video but it’s towards the end its a much darker version of the same people in a field and Goya knowing that Spain has fallen in the time since, he retreats to his deaf house or whatever, ponders on death, life, and what he could save himself from if he forced himself to go back and devour the young Goya so as to save him from what Goya sees as a worse fate
the thing about the prophecy saturn was so afraid of though, that he would be killed by one of his children, only became true after he became a terrible monster by way of eating his children. so zeus/jupiter would never have killed him if he hadn't been so afraid of the prophecy
@@TheYeetedMeat yah or oedipus is another example, although i appreciate long dog
I saw this painting in the Prado when I was about 11. It has haunted me ever since (some 60 years). Thank you for your interpretation.
I always felt this painting was more personal like you said, but I never knew Goya lost as many children as Saturn ate. I really appreciate that you gave us all the pieces without putting the puzzle together, it leaves my interpretations to spin at a mile a minute
Hi! I'm from Spain and I've seen this picture on history and art class. The explanation the teachers gave me to this specific picture is that the king said he would apply the enlightment on the whole country and motivated the people to fight in the war against france, but when spain won, the king betrayed us. The king wanted the old government again, and Goya painted this as the king consuming his own people.
I love your interpretation cause I didn't know goya had 7 children (same as saturn) and 6 of them died before the moment he painted that. Nice video!
The Painting’s themes I think represent the devolution of man into beast. Saturn had devolved into a beast, but his mind still was intact for a time after. He was aware of his actions, aware of his gruesome murder and consumption of his children, however he was no longer in control. He couldn’t stop himself from devouring his children, and yet he was still present in mind. A monster killing and eating people is terrifying as is, but a monster with its human mind still intact and aware of what’s happening is so much worse. Perhaps that’s what makes Bloodborne’s first act so disturbing for me, moreso than the cosmic horror acts. The beasts you fight are transformed to varying extents and intensities, however many of them seem also to be aware of what’s happening both to them, and of what they’re doing to others.
I wonder what these paintings look like under candle light. I mean that’s how they were seen back then I bet the light flickering off of it would be amazing and spooky
My art instructor used this as his profile image online...always figured he was wanting to convey something
I enjoy the unsettling vibes w/ this video, nicely done!
Thank you Marc! I can always count on you to give me feedback. It's greatly appreciated!
When I was a child I was interested in mythology etc. (like right now). This painting was in one of my books, and I was probably more afraid of this painting than death. :)
Hahahahah, the very same case here, Amberus! 😄😄😉
I appreciate the research you did to make this video. It was very interesting. I don't really have a take on the matter, so I'm just going to leave it at that. Thanks for the video! :)
I'm happy you found in interesting! Thank _you_ for watching and taking the time to comment!
This is such a well made video! I luckily got to see the black paintings in person in Madrid, and they’re truly incredible to bestow. Such bold streaks and dramatic lighting, with more emphasis on the horrid emotions than looking “realistic,” I remember staring at this one picture in particular, as I had already learned of the myth of Saturn. When I was learning this, many pictures came up as Saturn looking like the devil, the “ultimate evil” against the Greek gods. But your analysis of this painting made me remember why I gravitated to it so much… Because it was human.
I saw that painting in Madrid, Spain when I was 8 years old...it never faded from my memory. Of all the art I saw that summer, that is the one I remember clearly. It scared me to death. I was riveted with fear. I even can see the room I was standing in, surrounded by masterpieces, but they are all faded. I sense my parents near me. It took me years to get over the fright I felt in those moments. I like your interpretation very, very much. The pain of loosing one's children must be horrifying, absolutely.
May I also add that being the padre de familia, and this painting being in the kitchen, being so alone with death so presemt all throughout his life and painting because he saw it in his unconscious slowly becoming conscious, all those thoughts as he ate and dined almost completely alone, with Saturn Devouring his Son being a constant reminder to his survivor's guilt and believing he had failed his children by allowing them to die by fate, or of an unknown prophecy.
When i went to prado museum my favorite room was the Goya black paiting, i was totally absoberd by the asmosphera. My family continued with the visit but i stayed like 45 minutes watching the black paintings without exagerating. Is incredible go to Madrid and watch it, for me my favorite paintor of all time
I recently visited the Black paintings exposition in the Museo del Prado, and it really is a haunting atmosphere!
It is truly dastubing what this man showed the world when he didn't even want to
They make the Saturn paintings really terrifying but in the myth he swallowed them whole. He even swallowed a rock thinking it was Zeus.
Spoiler alert: Zeus came back and killed Him freeing his sisters and brother. The most popular being Hades and Poseidon arguably.
since you used the Roman name Saturn, you should refer to Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades as Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, respectively.
Same story different gods, easy mistake though, Saturn is part of Roman myth whereas in the Greek version it was Kronos eating Poseidon and Hades with Zeus being the 1 to return and free his brothers
Romans plagiarized alot of beliefs from their neighbors
They didn't kill him. Greek gods are immortal
"Roman" myths? They are the Greek myths copied and pasted , lemao...
@@chris30555 I mean, I did say they plagiarized alot from their neighbors including some stuff from the Etruscans and even some Gallic and Iberian mythos and craftmanship, their famous Gladiolus was literally copy and pasted from the Iberian tribes in modern day Spain
Still, gotta respect them for being the ones who brought so many things together and using it to advance themselves and by extension the majority of the known world at the time
Amazing video once again. I wanted to let you know that your videos have sparked a deep artistic and intellectual interest within me, prompting me to think differently all together. One of the college essays that I recently wrote was even inspired by your video about Napoleon’s paintings. Keep up the incredible work.
Thank you so much!!! That's absolutely crazy! I can't believe these videos can be that impactful. What was your essay about if I can ask?
@@TheCanvasArtHistory the topic I chose was to write about anything I’m interested in. I wrote about historical art, citing JLD’s depictions of Napoleon, and how it compares to the modern world of social media and its tendencies to manipulate viewers, most notably seen in politics.
Wow. I am in tears after viewing this. I just can’t imagine what Goya went through, but I can feel his pain through the paintings. What an amazing thing art is. Hopefully our time is better than his, and I firmly believe artists like Goya make us strive for a better tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your beautiful interpretations.
I have only cried in the presence of one painting in my life. This painting. Having been told in art class where the painting was located... Knowing it was in his own house. He painted it for himself. Not for me. Not for anyone. He chose to adorn the wall of his own house with this image.
I thought, what horrors were visited upon you. What did life give to you to cause you to bring this into existence.... and I cried for Goya. I have only had tears for the man that created this image. I am so sorry Goya. Life gave you some heavy cruelty.
You've given me another new view on a painting i already love!
I'm happy I did! Thank you for watching and commenting!
This painting legitimately gave me nightmares the first time I saw it. I was in college
Wow, that was a really interesting theory on the painting's meaning. I would have never thought of that. Thanks for sharing your interpretation. It makes the painting more impactful.
one of the most impactful videos i saw recently, loved the way you talked
Maaan I absolutely love Nerdwriter's take on this, but yours is even better. Regardless of Goya's true intentions, your analysis is remarkable! You earned my sub, such a cool channel!
Painting ain't the topic that gets me more interested from all the arts but I really do appreciate it and I get inspired by it. Very nice video
I actually did a re-creation of this painting at my high school last year on my senior year. I went to my first period class which was my art class, and we had to pick a piece of art then recreate it by changing 7 things about the painting. ether it’s to add on or changing the piece entirely giving it a new value, and meaning to our piece of art. My art teacher found that I was struggling to find a piece of art to create since a lot of people took very common, and well knowing paintings like the Mona Lisa, or more colorful and bright kinds of paintings. So my art teacher gave me one of her many books full of artist and painting to choice from. However, soon enough I found an art piece that caught my eye. Yes it was the Saturn Devouring his son painting. I never even bothered to reading about the artist, nor what the painting was exactly including its name. I was just so fascinated by the art work, and was completely different from everyone else’s. The more I stared at it, the more I was intrigued. I started by drawing it first, and then printed in on the white canvas. It’s worth noting that I never saw myself as a great painter, especially how much skill it takes to make a fine piece of art, including colors theory. But when I began painting it. I began experiment a lot with trying to find the right colors and mixtures. I guess you could say I was obsession with it. I always had an obsession when it came to mastering new things, or just me enjoying something until I got it right. But this felt different. I don’t know what I really felt, but I wanted to find the same expression on how I felt with this painting. It took me awhile to complete, mind you it was a little over do and I took most of my break’s, and lunch time into this painting. Once I finished it I was quite happy with it. Still proud of it even because it wasn’t only best work, but also came out how I wanted it to be. And my classmates, teachers, friends saw this painting, they felt the same way looking at my painting, like the same way when I first saw what my painting was based from. 1 year later and I found this video, and I see why a bit on what made me so fascinated with it a bit, but once again it’s a feeling that I cannot explain, and only can be expressed by art.
Best decision I’ve made all day was clicking on this video. I love when I find somebody who shares my interpretation and can put it into words much more succinctly
Same.
Here's my interpretation: Goya indentifies himself with Saturn because of his age. The painting is an exploration of time's relationship with death, of old age devouring youth. Saturn is depicted as old age devouring a full grown adult, and for Goya it could represent his youth succumbing to what he has become, an old man stepping closer to the void of death. Goya, as Saturn, is anguished because he is not choosing to grow old, he simply has to, time is out of his control yet ultimately controls his fate, and in growing old he has not only lost his mobility, but also his agency (or at least his assumption of having it). As time passes, Goya devours the memories, the accomplishments, and the freedom of his youth, and once that youth is devoured all he will be left with is the monster of old age. His face is anguished not only because he doesn't want to devour his youth or his inability to choose not to, it's the knowledge that with each bite of flesh he comes one step closer to realizing his true fear: being left with nothing but a grotesque mutilation of the man he once was.
I Agree With This Way More As It Makes More Sense
When I first heard about the paintings, I thought the Saturn (planet) was eating his own moons.
This was quite a unique interpretation of the painting's meaning. Definitely wasn't expecting it to be that deep and sad, overall a very excellent video.
i have literally watched this 3 times over..it is genuinely my most favorite youtube video
One of your best so far, which says quite a lot considering the usual sky-high quality on this channel!
The sky-high quality? That's so sweet of you! Thank you so much!
@@TheCanvasArtHistory No, don't thank me, I'm not the one spending hours and hours making amazing content and uploading it for everyone to see for free! I've had a really horrible day, and although this video didn't solve my problems it certainly helped to put them in a more manageable perspective somehow. I think that is one of the main reasons for art to exist, it transgresses centuries to bind people together through perceptions of hardships and joys. I love what you do, keep it up!
Wow I'm speechless. Art truly is powerful and I'm happy to part of this neverending discussion. I hope things get better for you Sebastian! You have definitely brightened up my day (if not my week!).
Thank you sincerely.
I loved this interpretation! I had always felt like other interpretations left Saturn's expression unaddressed or incompletely described but this gave me a ton of clarity. Now I need to check out more of your videos!
This has actually been one of my favorite painting since I was 12, it looks pretty cool, and it has blood and cannibalism, and it looks pretty cool!
I’m so happy you came up with this conclusion as well. I remember taking Art History in high school and I fell in love with de Goya’s work and this was his most fascinating piece for me. When I did a project on him and looked into his life story I came to the same realization that this was about all his kids who died so young.
Great analysis. I love seeing different interpretations of one of my favorite paintings ^^
I wasn't too sure how the video would turn out considering Nerdwriter1 already made a video about it. I'm happy people seem to like it!
@@TheCanvasArtHistory of course people like it! It's good content and you put time and effort into it. It shows :D
This channel is incredible. Thank you @TheCanvas
If you split Saturns face in half... left side of the face is showing a monster enjoying another bite of its victim
right side on the other hand is showing just a man... shocked and terrified by his own actions
This whole painting is so fascinating!
Left side of the face doesn't seem to show any enjoyment in my opinion. Maybe you're seeing something I'm not?
It looks more shocked to be caught in the act
I remember seeing this art piece in my art class last year and being so infatuated with it. I am not an art person or someone who is passionate about paintings, but when I saw this for the first time I just couldn’t take my eyes off of it and found myself to be fascinated
Lovely work. I think one of the great things about great art is that it can hold so many interpretations. One can only speculate if this really is a facet of Goya's expression, but it certainly works as a reading. And I think you're touching on something incredibly deep about the horror of facing death. The Myth of Jupiter is by no means the only story of a father destroying his children so he can live forever. Myths and legends are packed with such stories. The tale of Oedipus immediately springs to mind. There's something horrific about the old living on while the young parish, and yet, every generation seems to hold contempt for the generation that comes after, as though deploring their new identities and ideas will somehow stave off our inevitable obsolescence.
What makes this image so profoundly horrifying is the undeniable knowledge we see in Jupiter's eyes of his own monstrousness. He's clearly mad, and yet, the worst part is how clear it is that he knows he's mad. Perhaps the greatest horror is the horror of self-knowledge. So yes, I think you've nailed an aspect of the painting that the brilliant Evan Puschak didn't quite touch in, that it is, in all likelihood, a self-portrait. Whether Goya consciously intended it to be so or not is irrelevant. The shoe fits.
Saturn is the one devouring his children, not Jupiter. Jupiter is one of Saturn's children, more specifically the youngest who escapes the fate of being eaten when his mother swaps him out for a rock. Still, you make a great point!
@@DiogenesOfMashadIt's kind funny since he's wrong, but Zeus did end up eating an unborn son of his for the same reason his did tried to eat him.
Showing the self-portrait at 8:16 is unequivocally brilliant editing, all of the sudden his torment shines right through what seemed like undisturbed pride before. Beautiful. Thank you.
My Polish teacher (by the way, a great woman!) had her own theory; Saturn is the ruler of the world in this age of Roman mythology ( well, I know, Cronos, but "Saturn" is Roman version, so...) , the most powerful being, he could do so much good things ... but, instead, he devours his own children, which, according to my teacher, meant that at the end of his life Goya was completely disappointed in the world, that the world was ruled by evil, that there was no transcendent good. Considering that Goya survived the Napoleonic Wars, saw the suffering of his countrymen and painted at the behest of the French authorities, and saw the Inquisition's conduct, knowing his disappointment with successive systems, he outlived most of his children ...sounds likely. We talked about it in lesson (we practiced writing essays, one of the topics was the nature of evil in literature and art)
I have to add something; Saturn's eyes. It reminds me about conscience's and soul's awareness of good and evil, in these eyes I saw mind that is VERY aware devouring of his own children is worse than monstrous... but his fear before being overthrown by his own son is stronger than sense of morality, conscience, guilt, self-hatred for being a monster, grief, pain, the screams of his children
(he bits off the head to not hear their cries for help and mercy)...
7:45 Like Ivan's panic in "Ivan the Terrible and his Son Ivan", Repin's masterpiece, that always gives me chills.
i personally love the interpretation, makes it so much more disturbing
There are many disturbing, horrifying, and frightening paintings. But I've always found this work by Goya to be in a class of its own. It is horrific in a way that I have never experienced in any other work of art in any genre. It is more than simply "dark". It is every nightmare made flesh.
I honestly cannot imagine what Goya was thinking and feeling when he created this terrible masterpiece. But whatever personal hell he inhabited, by some artistic miracle, he was able to abstract and refine his suffering to such a perfect degree that he could cast the form of horror itself in canvas and paint.
Goya summoned into being, that great unspeakable abyss, which lies always beneath our feet, but which we never dare to look at. He showed the unspeakable horror we always knew was there, but were too terrified to acknowledge.
I feel indebted to him for it, and yet, a part of me wishes he had never succeeded.
Couldn't have put it any better.
I love this channel I subscribed about a week or so ago & I absolutely love hearing ur analysis of these paintings. Iv never even heard of Goya until now, I have no knowledge of art history , but with this channel I hope to learn alot. I love dark paintings & how was the artist feeling & what was he thinking when he painted this dark art. As a survivor of depression I paint what I was feeling at certain times during the darkest days the hopeless days & the feeling that nothing can hurt as bad as living dealing with a horrible past & life just wondering will it ever get better!? 22 yrs later I can say yes it does!! Please post more on dark paintings I'm absolutely fascinated with them. Thanks & glad I found ur channel , also ur voice is so calming & soft I just love it! 🦋
I've had the honor to see the painting in person, it disturbed me when I saw it, so I keep looking more from Goya, and then I found like a painting of some war, and the atmosphere it gave me was terrifying. It is called the executions of May 3
Edit: I see it was referenced on 3:00
It’s the Peninsular War between Napoleon’s forces and Spain. Around 215,000-375,000 Spanish soldiers and civilians died. Goya was in Madrid and witnessed a lot of the war firsthand, which had a profound effect on his mental health.
Wow! That analysis was chilling! What a troubled soul that poor man had.
bro is caked up
Fr
He got a whole damn cake bakery there
Why do you think Saturn is devouring him? 👀
So glad you covered this. This is one of my favorites too. Thank you for the great info and background.
Goya's life should be known, and a wonderful introduction, if taken in context, is a movie entitled Goya's Ghosts starring Javier Bardem. You are doing a wonderful job with this channel. We, the unsophisticated peasants, thank you.
God Bless Everyone, Take Heart My Friends. Have Faith Amen ✝
What's amazing about this painting is that it's actually rather bad. The corpse looks like a mannequin, which makes me think Goya just got the reference from some a reference book or previous notes. The anatomy on Saturn is sloppy, the texture is sloppy, and the eyes feel tacked on.
Yet it works. It feels like a desperate attempt to exorcize a feeling of horror and dread at his dead children and his approaching death. He wants to live, he hates himself for wanting to live just a little longer despite his poor health when most of his children never even had a third of what he had. He hates that other painters will eclipse him, he hates how he took money and fame from the very nobility he would grow to resent. All he can do is paint this horrible thing.
it’s not perfect but i definitely would not call it bad. it’s visceral and emotional and truly that’s all that matters to me
I don’t think it’s about looking good
The texture and messiness is supposed to evoke the fear and horror of the situation
I wouldn't say bad but simple
It's not bad, it's just not realistic. It's twisted and looks like it was made in a bout of passion- and I think that was the intention, if there was any.
This is definitely not a bad painting, i dont understand where your standards lay
My eyes got watery at the very end. Well done!
this is like an art analysis diss track LMAO, great video
Hahahah I have nothing but admiration for Nerdwriter! Never would I ever diss their work or their analysis! I just wanted to offer a different view on the painting, but I'm happy you enjoyed the video! Your comment made me laugh. Thanks!
@@TheCanvasArtHistory haha, I wasn't implying that you were actually disrespecting nerd writer, just that a differing opinion on a piece of art is the RUclips version of a diss track.
3:33 i got to say you chose the right tone and background sounds
It's such a timeless painting. I'd say it's more relevant today than when Goya painted it.
No kidding lol
One of my favouriote painting. I didn't know about this interpretation. Good job
I have a framed print of this above my bed. Its a great conversation peace. I'm obviously dulled to its horror by now but when I first saw it in the intro of the skyrim mod Enderal (where felsh and family are also of some importance) I was frozen in horror for a few seconds
And the painting is at the dining room. And the prophet is the only child who survive. And Daddy suggest the prophet to listen. That's a clear reference to Goya
Thanks for highlighting the pictorial art of Spain. We have way more than Dalí o Picasso.
I recently went to Zaragoza (Goya's birthplace city) and visited the Goya Museum. His work of Los Caprichos is fascinating and a privilege to observe in person.
I thoroughly enjoyed this video and how accurately presents information about our history
Greetings from Spain 🇪🇸
He was actually one of the first war "photographers", in his Disasters of War he painted true events that happened during the Spanish Independence War so people could see the terrors of war.
WOW! Great job! Thank you for this video!
Great analysis , but idk man in terms of most disturbing the Corpses of the Brothers De Witt is still a pretty messed up painting lol
Agreed! I love that painting!!
I got to see this painting in person it really hits different when you see it in first person
I feel like the piece shares symbolism in what Kronos/Saturn was the god of: Time. Time which encroaches us all and eventually kills us sometimes slowly and painfully. I believe Goya may have been depicting they body as his own which was once full of life, but is also being consumed over time. The owner of the body appears to have just been at the peak of their life before they were consumed roughly, which may speak on how he felt that time was fleeting so quickly that he didn't even realize he wasn't as young as he once was. I can understand the idea that you might see pain in the face of Saturn, but I see a cold ruthless old man who doesn't show care at all.
Imagine opening the cellar door and seeing this thing. For sure one of the most nightmarish paintings.
This is why I never liked saturn as a planet lmao cause of how disturbing its god is
This video made me so scared i was looking around me while listenin. Absolutely great, loved your points!
Came from Chainsaw Man..
Been thinking about this painting for the past few days, rewatching it now
At first, I found it horrific, nightmarish
Yet after this video, all I can feel looking at this painting is sorrow, mourning and heartache
Brilliant video
“Out of the thousands of paintings produced since the dawn of humanity”
There are thousands of paintings created every day. Your math is a bit off 😆
I risked my sleep watching this
I honestly think it's just satire on goya's part combined with edginess. Especially when considering it's in the dining room. In other words, goya is based
This is what got me into painting. I was a kid and my brother was doing a homework about the mythology so he was putting this picture on his notebook, I was somehow mesmerized, before that I would see art as just pretty things but this was something so different, so dark if you want to call it that way but it just made me obsessed, then I saw more of Goya's work and got completely fascinated.
This video is on a another level.
Great video. I liked your analysis. Before, I wasn't really familiar with the story behind this painting but every time I see it, I am always fixed on Saturn's eyes.... because they really looked liked almost going to cry and choke, it doesn't look like he's devouring it. It's like eating dinner alone and trying not to cry but you're very sad and feels so much pain, you're eating your sorrow away.
Wow. Now it's also Halloween when I found this. Thank you so much for making this video.
most theories that i come across i don’t really follow, your theory blows everything out of the water, i can really see and feel the theories you have captured in his artwork
That's such a sad depiction. It also makes a lot of sense.
Thanks a lot as always.