Saturn Devouring His Son

Francisco Goya painted “Saturn Devouring His Son” on a wall inside his house on the banks of the Manzanares river near Madrid. It was one of six works Goya used to decorate his dining room, painted sometime between 1819 and 1823.

Goya did not name his paintings, so the subject matter is open to interpretation and the titles have been given by art historians. “Saturn Devouring His Son” is interpreted as depicting the Greek myth of the Titan Cronus, who consumed his children at birth for fear that they would overthrow him.

It is one of fourteen Black Paintings, works from Goya’s later years of life portraying dark, haunting themes that reflected his fear of insanity and bleak outlook on humanity.