‘Saturn devouring his son’ and the 13 other Black Paintings were never meant for public display. In 1819 Francisco Goya went into near isolation and painted the works directly onto the walls of his house. The haunting pictures reflect Goya’s internal demons and civil strife occurring in Spain

“Saturn Devouring His Son” by Francisco Goya

“Saturn Devouring His Son” by Francisco Goya depicts the Greek myth of the Titan, who fears that he would be overthrown by one of his children, so he ate each one of his children upon their birth.

The work is one of the 14 Black Paintings that Goya painted directly onto the walls of his house sometime between 1819 and 1823. It was transferred to the canvas after Goya’s death and has since been held in the Museo del Prado in Madrid.

The Roman myth was inspired by the original Greek mythology, in which it had been foretold that one of the sons of Saturn (Cronus is his name in the Greek original myth) would overthrow him, just as Saturn had overthrown his father.

To prevent this, Saturn ate his children moments after each was born…. Continue Reading (4 minute read)