Top most sinister works of art

ART

Top most sinister works of art

26/10/22

Text: Anna Mar

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Welcome to the darkness of the most sinister works of the great artists of the timeā€¦

Saturn Devouring His Son, Francisco Goya

The most famous and frightening paintings by the Spanish painter is ā€œSaturn Devouring His Sonā€. The subject of this painting refers to Roman mythology, according to which Saturn, who was the leader of the titans, overthrew his father, Caelus, in an attempt to become the ruler of the universe. He was so afraid that his own offspring would do the same, that he killed and devoured every child after birth.

An interesting fact is that this painting hung in Goya’s dining room in his own home.

The Nightmare, Henry Fuseli

Swiss artist Henry Fuseli shows a sleeping woman with an incubus, a male demon, sitting on her body, and a ghostly horse peering out from behind a red curtain.

Art historians believe that Nightmare was inspired by German folk tales. According to legend, men who slept alone were visited by equestrian ghosts, and lonely women were possessed by demons or the devil. Fuseli wove these two legends together and brought them to life on canvas, creating a frightening nightmare.

Dante and Virgil in Hell, William Bouguereau

The one of the most remarkable examples of dark romanticism. This painting depicts a scene from Dante’s Divine Comedy, which narrates a journey through Hell by Dante and his guide Virgil. In this scene the author and his guide are looking on as two damned souls are entwined in eternal combat.

The Scream, Edvard Munch

This scene, with the screaming man whose face is twisted in horror, seems an unreal figment of Munch’s fantasy. In fact, this frightening scene was inspired by a real place. Munch wrote in his diary: ā€œOne evening I was walking along a path, the city was on one side and the fjord below. I felt tired and ill. I stopped and looked out over the fjordā€”the sun was setting, and the clouds turning blood red. I sensed a scream passing through nature; it seemed to me that I heard the scream. I painted this picture, painted the clouds as actual blood. The color shrieked. This became The Scream.ā€

The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun, William Blake

The dragon represents Satan, who takes revenge on the woman who gave birth to Jesus, who will spread the Christian faith.

This painting is one of a series of watercolours by the English poet and painter William Blake. These paintings depict the ‘Great Red Dragon’ in various scenes. A series of these works that were created to illustrate the books of the Bible.

Witches' Flight, Francisco Goya

The most beautiful and powerful of Goya’s witch paintings. It was part of a series of six paintings related to witchcraft acquired by the Duke and Duchess of Osuna in 1798.

ā€œWitches’ Flightā€ rife with symbolism. The donkey is the traditional symbol of ignorance. Airborne witches wear sanbenito, the tall conical hats worn by heretics during the Spanish Inquisition.

The Apparition, Gustave Moreau

The Apparition portrays the biblical character of Salome dancing in front of Herod Antipas with a vision of John the Baptist’s severed head, with blood dripping from it. Some art historians believe that this beautiful yet frightening painting was created by the artist under the influence of opium.

The Descent into Hell of the Damned, Peter Paul Rubens

Rubens, who had already painted the Great and Small Last Judgment, is interested here in the fate of the reprobate, who, tumbling from the celestial heights, are condemned to hell, an abyss populated by terrifying demons.

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