It is a haunting painting that depicts a father holding his dead son; ‘Ivan the Terrible and his Son’ (oil on canvas), one of Ilya Repin’s most psychologically intense works, was finished in 1885. Ivan was depicted in this painting holding his dying son in his arms as he lay shocked, the victim of an uncontrollable wrath. Ivan’s horrified expression stands in stark contrast to his son’s serene, even Christlike expression. The painting depicts the aftermath of the tsar Ivan killing his son out of rage.
Ivan may have caused a miscarriage by beating his pregnant daughter-in-law in 1581 because she was dressed inappropriately. Upon learning of this, his oldest son, also called Ivan, got into a furious disagreement with his father. As a result, Ivan struck his son in the head with his pointed staff, resulting in his son’s death. ‘Ivan the Terrible and his Son’ also known as ‘Ivan the Terrible Killing his Son’, is a well-known artwork by Ilya Repin that depicts this incident.
Courtesy: Warped Perspective
Ivan’s eyes’ surrounding detail is incredible. It is extremely astounding how Repin used just paint and a canvas to depict Ivan’s sadness, insanity, horror, and despair in his eyes; they are truly haunting. It is almost as if the artist was there when it happened, because the details are out of this world and it adequately conveys the utmost agony and remorse on Ivan’s face.
The most intriguing aspect of this artwork, however, is how it relates to the current Russian events of the day and the enormous influence it had. The killing of Aleksandr II and the ensuing executions of his killers, which Repin observed, inspired the revolutionary views that were prevalent at the time, as revealed by Repin himself.
Repin was in a very hazardous situation because, although his contemporaries produced works that were comparable to his, they never publicly made the political allusions that Repin did. In fact, when the painting was scheduled to be displayed in Moscow, due to the Tsar being depicted as a deranged killer, Repin was forced to take down the painting and was not allowed to replicate or distribute its image. Konstantin Pobedonostsev, Chief Procurator and Aleksandr III’s advisor looked at it with disgust.
Interesting to note about this painting is that it has so far been vandalised twice. The first occasion occurred in 1913 when icon painter Abram Balashov, then 29 years old, made three large slashes in the portion of the picture that showed Ivan and his son’s faces. “Enough of the death, enough of the bloodshed!” he said as he did this. Fortunately, Repin was somehow able to restore it.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
The second instance of vandalism took place on May 25, 2018, 105 years later. Five minutes before the exhibition was scheduled to shut, a man barged into the Tretyakov hall where the painting was on display and shattered the artwork with a metal pole meant to support the rope that had been surrounding it as protection. The canvas and frame were harmed by the shattered glass that covered the painting. This time, Ivan and his son’s faces were unscathed.
The painting is truly one of the most famous from Russia that is full of emotions as well as details. Although Ivan has blood on his hands, it nearly seems as though he is attempting to stop the flow or treat the wound. While Ivan’s eyes are filled with the horror and sorrow of what he has just done, his son’s expression is mournful and his touch on his father’s arm appears consoling, as if he is lovingly forgiving his father for the act.
