Saturn Devouring His Son by Rubens.

Saturn Devouring His Son is a 1636 painting by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, now in the Prado Museum. It is an oil painting on canvas.

This is one of the Rubens' most dramatic paintings. It was commissioned by Philip IV of Spain for decorate the Torre de la Parada with mythological scenes inspired by "Meramorphoses" of Ovid.

Saturn was warned that one of his sons would dethrone him, so he decided to devour all of them, leaving only one: Zeus that was saved by his mother, Rea. The painting represents Saturn tearing the chest of one of his sons leaning on his scythe, symbol of the agriculture. The three stars at the top of the painting represent the planet Saturn as described Galileo a few years before the painting. The central star is the planet itself, while the two others represent what he thought were two stars aligned with the planet (these were actually the rings around the planet).

The figure of the god is silhouetted between the dark backgrounds; the light gets a dramatic effect very common in the Baroque similar to a play; also, the light creates a starlign and impressive atmosphere. The figures in the painting show a huge strenght in the position of the boby. The faces show very dramatic and real expressions, especially in the figure of the child that looks suffering.

Aitana Soria Revestido 2ºA