The Art of Horror: 15 Haunting Paintings That Will Send Shivers Down Your Spine
Art, which always makes us feel something, sometimes causes us to feel fear in our bones with a single painting. It is a very impressive event that such a powerful art form can terrify us with its facial expressions... We have listed the 15 most interesting and frightening paintings in the history of art for you.
1. Salvador Dali, "The Face of War" (1940)
Dali painted this painting when he was living in California. His past traumas and visions of war inspired him to create this painting. The famous artist believed that his artistic vision was, at times, a prediction of war.
2. Francisco Goya, "Saturn Devouring His Son" (1819-1823)
According to legend, the titan Saturn learned in advance by prophecy that one of his children would replace him and take over his rule. As expected, Saturn, who didn't want this and wanted to preserve his authority, ate one of his children. However, Saturn didn't know that his wife Rei was hiding their youngest child Zeus. In the end, Zeus won the victory over the giants.
3. Caravaggio, "Medusa" (1597)
According to the myth, Perseus, who approaches and cuts off Medusa's head by looking at her reflected image from his shield, also allows Medusa to see him one last time.
4. Hans Memling, "Hell" (1485)
Satan is depicted dancing on people burning in hell. The inscription above Satan reads 'There is no salvation in hell'...
5. Gerard David, "The Judgment of Cambyses" (1498-1499)
The Persian king Cambyses II, after whom the work is named, ordered the judge Sisamnes to be skinned alive for corruption. And it was done publicly to set an example to the public.
6. Ivan Albright, "Picture of Dorian Gray" (1943)
In this work, which is an exact reflection of Oscar Wilde's famous work, the part where the painting gets ugly and old instead of himself with the passage of time and the crimes he committed is depicted personally.
7. An anonymous German artist, "Gregor Baci" (16th century)
In the 16th century, a Hungarian man named Gregor Baci, who was believed to have been pierced in the eye with a spear during a tournament, is thought to have lived for another year with a piece of spear in his eye!
8. Jean Fouquet, "Madonna surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubim" (1452)
This painting is both interesting and wonderful, and not only because of the red angels surrounding it... In this work, Fouquet deviated from the generally depicted Madonna and created his own depiction of the Virgin Mary. In Fouquet's work, which takes its place among the most extraordinary depictions of the Virgin Mary, Mary on her throne is depicted as the empress of heaven. Another interesting part is that her breast is clearly depicted, because it is normally seen as a sexual image. Imagine how 15th century art lovers were surprised by this depiction...
9. Hieronymus Bosch, "The Garden of Earthly Delights" (1503-1504)
The painting depicts biblical truths, the fate of humanity and the consequences of our fatal flaws. When you take a look around, you will realize that the artist has painted a human chaos. Looking up to the sky, we see people riding swan-lion chimera (beast), and looking down, we see each person in an interesting position, busy with something equally strange. In the right panel is hell itself: figuratively speaking, the apocalypse.
If you want to take a closer look... 👇
10. Quentin Matsys, "The Ugly Duchess" (1513)
For a long time, scholars thought that this painting was a work of satire. It shows a grotesque old woman with wrinkled skin and withered breasts, and although the artist's choice of clothing is quite fancy and wealthy, considering the period in which it was painted, it is outdated. Ultimately, we understand that this painting mocks the elderly and those who are unattractive because of their behavior. However, after recent research on the painting, we have learned that this is not the truth: this woman had advanced stages of Paget's disease, which causes bone deformities.
11. İlya Repin, "Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan" (1581)
This painting shows the first Russian Tsar, Ivan IV, in a fit of rage, striking his son Ivan Ivan Ivanovich on the temple with his scepter and the son dying in his father's arms. It is incredible how realistically the father's expression of fear, horror and regret is portrayed...
12. Jusepe de Ribera, "Magdalena Ventura with Her Husband and Son" (1631)
The woman in front is actually the Bearded Woman of Abruzzi! Although gender is a flexible concept today, can we say that it was not so different in the past? This strange artwork by Jusepe de Ribera may give us a different idea. Magdalena was not a fan of Renaissance standards of beauty. As a result, she reinvented her own standards of beauty, which made her famous.
Although her breast looks misshapen, Ribera painted her in a breastfeeding position to show that she was physically a woman.
13. William Adolphe-Bouguereau, "Dante and Virgil in Hell" (1850)
The famous artist was inspired by a page from Dante's Inferno when he painted this painting. One of the two brawlers is Cappuccio, an alchemist and pervert, and the other is Gianni Schinni, who allegedly took another man's name to get his money. Inspired by the story of two real death row criminals, Dante wrote about it in his epic poem. Dante and Virgil stand behind Schinni and Cappochio. Dante watches his friend Virgil as he walks away.
14. Vincent van Gogh, "Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette" (1885-1886)
It is very likely that the famous artist made this painting during an anatomy lesson when he was studying painting. It is also possible that Gogh, who we know was a fan of the saying 'Memento mori' (Remember that you are mortal), tried to paint this.
15. Francis Bacon, "Study after Velázquez's Portrait of Pope Innocent X" (1953)
It's safe to say that most people are confused by Bacon's work. Besides the use of contrasting colors, the painting looks quite horrifying. Although the origin story of the painting is not exactly known, one feels like both looking at it and not looking at it...
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