8 creepy pictures you can't look at without shuddering

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Usually, painters create paintings that they want to look at over and over again, admiring the conveyed beauty on the canvas. But not all canvases by outstanding artists evoke only positive emotions. In museum collections there are also such paintings, after viewing which the blood simply freezes in the veins and an unpleasant feeling of anxiety remains. This review contains the masterpieces of world painting, which are impossible to look at without shuddering.

Artemisia Gentileschi “Judith Beheading Holofernes

[The painting "Judith decapitating Holofernes" conveys a biblical story in which a widow who seduced an Assyrian commander-invader kills him after the pleasures of bed. For the Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi, this painting was the result of personal experiences. At the age of 18, she was dishonored by the artist Agostino Tassi, who worked in her father's workshop. The girl had to endure a humiliating 7-month trial, after which she was forced to move from Rome to Florence, where she soon painted her famous painting.

Heinrich Füssli "Nightmare"

Almost all canvases by the Swiss artist Heinrich Füssli contain an erotic component. In the painting "Nightmare", the artist depicted an incubus demon who came to a woman to seduce her. According to medieval beliefs, suppressed sexual desires manifested themselves in people in the form of nightmares.

Gustave Moreau "Diomedes devoured by his horses"

The French artist Gustave Moreau often turned to the mythological theme in his work. His painting "Diomedes Devoured by His Horses" is a reference to the 12 exploits of Hercules. The hero had to go to King Diomedes in Thrace in order to get fierce horses, which the owner fed with human flesh. Hercules cruelly dealt with the king and threw him to be torn apart by animals.

Hieronymus Bosch "The Garden of Earthly Delights"

The triptych "Garden of Earthly Delights" is considered the most famous painting by Hieronymus Bosch. Its central part is dedicated to the sin of lust. Many rather strange images fill the picture, as if warning the viewer about what can happen if you succumb to temptation.

Peter Paul Rubens "Saturn Devouring His Son"

The eerie canvas by Peter Paul Rubens conveys a mythological story about the god Saturn (in Greek mythology - Kronos), who was prophesied that one of his children would destroy his father. That is why Saturn devoured each of his offspring.

Hans Memling "The Vanity of the Earth"

The left panel of the "Earthly Vanity" triptych evokes not the most pleasant impressions. On it, the author depicted his vision of hell. Looking at the eerie canvas, a person who lived several centuries ago had to think about a more righteous life so as not to fall into the hellish cauldron after death.

William Bouguereau Dante and Virgil in Hell

Starting to create his work "Dante and Virgil in Hell", the French painter William Bouguereau was inspired by the poem "The Divine Comedy". The action in the picture takes place in the 8th circle of hell, where counterfeiters and counterfeiters are serving their sentences. Even after death, damned souls cannot calm down by biting each other. The hypertrophied poses of sinners, muscle tension - all this is intended to convey to the viewer the fear and horror of what is happening.

Francisco Goya "The Disasters of War"

In the period between 1810-1820, Francisco Goya created 82 prints, later called "The Disasters of War". In his works, the artist focused not on the heroism of the commanders, but on the suffering of ordinary people. Goya deliberately performed the work in black and white so as not to "distract" the viewer from the main idea that there is no excuse for war.

Francisco Goya for his outspoken work, they even threatened to burn him at the stake of the Inquisition.