Ateneo De Manila University

School of Humanities
Department of Fine Arts

Part 1. Formal Analysis

“The Allure of Anguish”

A Formal Analysis on Francisco Goya’s “Saturn Devouring his Son"

Francis Gregory L. Ku
192670

Art Application
ArtApp10
 Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, a legendary Spanish painter renowned not only for his
revolutionizing artistic vision and skill, worthy of making many consider him as “ the father of modern
art”( King 2003) but also for his ability to express and embody art that corresponds directly to his
sensations is the man responsible for the infamous piece known as “Saturn Devouring his Son”, a
painting venerated mainly for its macabre and horrendous aesthetic.
“Saturn Devouring his Son” is regarded as one of Goya’s most famous and distinct works of art and is
recognized as part of Goya’s “Black Paintings”, which are a series of haunting and morbid paintings
decorated around the walls of Goya’s Quinta del Sordo ( House of the Deaf Man) which he bought in
1891. (Lubow 2003) This painting is the legendary Spanish painter’s rendition of the Greek titan Kronos
(The Greek name of Saturn), otherwise known as the god of time and the ruler of the titans. Inspired
after Kronos' act of filicide, his act of consuming his children, as a means to prevent a prophecy of
usurpation and to preserve his reign of power (Davidson 1995).
 
              Although Francisco Jose de Goya is known for his paintings of grim and pessimistic nature, this
was not always considered his modus operandi. As a child growing up in Zaragoza, Goya started with
tapestry, creating art depicting elegant, light and romanticized scenes of the working class (Duban
2011). His morbid view was nowhere to be seen, or at this was at least the case until 1793 when a
serious illness took away his hearing (Klein 1998). After this loss, a shift in his worldview occurred from
one of optimism to one of despondency and anguish. Anguish present not only in his life but through
analyzing visual elements, appear present in his art. Using visual element analysis allows for a clearer
understanding of worldview. It presents a clarification of the distinction between perspectives through
analyzing the differences between the lines, shapes, colors and other visual elements and indicate a shift
in theme, mood, and message showing a change in the “way an individual or a society interpret and
interact with the world”(Cuevas 2020) or in this case the shift in Goya’s view of the world from what was
once one full of hope and resolution to one of despair and hardship.
 
 
 Francisco Jose de Goya’s sufferings, however, did not just end with deafness. He also suffered
frequent bouts of depression and to exacerbate even further, fell victim to the absolute monarchy that
befell upon Spain (Gallery 2019). This, in turn, fueled his passion for the genre Dark Romanticism, which
is considered a dark subgenre of Romanticism. Goya then incorporated this style into his art focusing
mainly on depicting topics of delinquent, horrendous or insane themes (Aestheticist 2018).
 
This genre of Dark Romanticism buttressed itself in the painting “Saturn Devouring his Son”
through Goya’s strategic use of colors and shapes. These reinforced the already preconceived presence
of dread within the painting. The use of dark shades indicates and reinforces the themes of
hopelessness and despair and aside from its presence within focal points and on the victim’s body, light
colors are almost entirely non- existent. His use of contrast present on the corpse on Saturn’s arm,
showing a dichotomy between the pure, clean white and the bloody red also emphasizes the message of
gore, emphasis on a display of a devoid of mercy, of pure suffering. Another thing, that helped create
and instill an image of fear is Saturn’s figure. Saturn’s shape appears eerie and out of place utilizing a
subversion of the expected. Instead of being built like the normalized and popularized concept of a
Greek god with Impeccable muscularity, perfect proportions, and flawless beauty, Saturn is instead
depicted as a rotting monster. One devoid of anything that resembles the “Greek God” we all know,
causing a subversion of expectation and exacerbation of fear. It is the intricate yet defamiliarizing details
Goya decided to incorporate on Saturn’s face that completely establishes a sense of inhumanity.
 
The vagueness of the body, the obscurity of gender, and its anonymity of age allow assertion
and encourages projection from its audience. Seeing the body, lifeless, destitute of hope creates the
concept of losing agency. These contrasts allow the image to, no matter how irrational seem more
feasible and this in turn creates a stronger sense of fear because the more irrational yet feasible
something is, the more horrendous it is.
 
Although the themes of horror, trepidation, and irrationality are clear, these do not indicate that
that the symbols and meanings are. Multiple appraisers have labeled Saturn as the devil incarnate, as a
symbol of despair, or as an apotheosis of evil (Morgan 2001) and through my understanding and formal
analysis of the work, I don’t disagree with them. Every detail pointed out previously, acts following their
claims. From the points arguing about an audience’s perspective, from the mentioning of Goya’s
worldview and comparison on how his experience of adversity, trials and tribulations changed his art
style and even from analyzing color semantics like how black can emphasize feelings of egregious intent.
(Haller 1969). All these allow one to solidify and create an idea of what Goya’s intentions could’ve been,
however, the main problem with this sort of reasoning is that, all we can attain is simply the idea or
theory and never the concrete fact. There is always the possibility of the cannibal god instead being
inspired because of Goya’s solitude in Quinta del Sordo or even the possibility that Saturn was inspired
simply by a piece of shit floating on the toilet.

We can argue about as much interpretation through the lens of as many perspectives as we
want, we can talk about how Goya’s “Saturn devouring his Son” sent tremors throughout the art world.
We can talk about how it caused worldwide debates and how Goya’s artwork, without a doubt, held a
hand in revolutionizing the art world with its sinister aesthetic but no matter what discourse is present,
the fact remains that Goya did not care. He did not care whether we thought it was evil or inspirational,
he did not care whether the public saw it or if it stayed concealed by the public, forever in the walls of
Quinta del Sordo. What makes “Saturn Devouring his Son” truly unique is its subversion from the classic
art-narrative, it’s existence beyond interpretation and its peculiar allure of anguish.
 REFERENCE LIST

Aestheticist M. (2018). Dark Romanticism: A Brief Introduction - The Aestheticist. [online] Available at:
https://theaestheticist.com/dark-romanticism-a-brief-introduction/ [Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].

Cuevas, C 2020, Seminar Topic 2: Art and Worldview: How we as part of a society see and navigative
perspectives, Art Appreciation ArtApp 1012018, Ateneo de Manila University, delivered 11
February 2020

Davidson, J. (1995). Zeus and the Stone Substitute. Hermes,123(3), 363-369. Retrieved February 25,
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Duban, J. (2011). The Eighteenth-Century Worker: Goya’s Tapestry Cartoons and the Influence of the
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Gallery, P. (2019). A Closer Look at Francisco Goya's 'Disasters of War'. [online] Park West Gallery.
Available at: https://www.parkwestgallery.com/francisco-goya-disasters-of-war/ [Accessed 25
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Haller, J. (1969). The Semantics of Colour. ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 26(2), 201-204. Retrieved
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King, E. (2003). Francisco Goya considered father of modern art – Collegian Archives. [online]
Archives.collegian.com. Available at:
http://archives.collegian.com/2003/02/19/francisco_goya_considered_father_of_modern_art/
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Klein, P. (1998). Insanity and the Sublime: Aesthetics and Theories of Mental Illness in Goya's Yard with
Lunatics and Related Works. Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes,61, 198-252.
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Lubow, A. (2003). The Secret of the Black Paintings. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at:
https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/magazine/the-secret-of-the-black-paintings.html
[Accessed 25 Feb. 2020].

Morgan, J. (2001). The Mystery of Goya's "Saturn". New England Review (1990-), 22(3), 39-43. Retrieved
February 25, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/40243981