Saturn Socks

Saturn Devouring His Son depicts the horrific scene of the Greek myth of Titan Cronus (as Saturn) eating one of his own children upon their birth, as he feared being overthrown by them. This piece reflects Goya’s own fear of mortality as he became significantly blind and fragile (while already deaf), and belongs to a series of 14 “Black Paintings” which Goya painted in his final years of life.

Never intended to be seen in public, the paintings were executed on the walls of his own home in Quinta del Sordo and after Goya’s passing, transferred to canvas, and hanged in Museo del Prado.