Art is a powerful tool that has the ability to elicit emotion from its viewers. When Ilya Repin's painting, Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885), was released, many Russians were left angered by the vivid depiction of Tsar Ivan IV holding his own son after fatally striking him in the head. The realism of the emotion between the father and son that this painting captures is undeniable and, since its release, this work of art has been recognized for its political importance in serving as a warning against violence and vengeance. Ilya Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885) is an important, politically controversial painting that conveys a warning against violence through the realistic depiction of an emotional tragedy involving …show more content…
Ilya Repin is known artistically for how he uses realism to evoke an emotional response from the viewers. The formal elements like the colors in this piece are warmer tones like the rug beneath them and the blood spilling from Ivan’s head, while the subject’s skin is a clammy, cooler tone. The stark contrast between the two tones is what makes the lifelessness of Ivan more prominent as it pops out against the warm pink tone of his robe. The rich, bold red of blood dripping from Ivan’s head, splattered across his father’s face, links the two of them as a result of an action the father can’t take back. The difference between the warm tone of blood against the cold skin of the dying son makes this piece more realistic, visualizing the line between the dead and the living. However, the most symbolic element of this piece is Ivan the Terrible’s eyes. Eyes-wide in horror and the realization of the depth of what he’d just done, regret is apparent from his creased forehead to his hand placed over his son’s fatal wound. Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan (1885) is a realism piece with so much emotion hidden