Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

About

Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581 is a 19th-century painting by Russian realist artist Ilya Repin. The painting depicts the grieving Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible holding his dying son Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich, shortly after striking his head with a scepter. The painting has been a prominent subject of redraws and references online as a classical art meme.

Origin

In 1885, Russian realist painter Ilya Repin finished his painting Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on 16 November 1581, one of his best-known works.^[1] The subject of the painting is based on the popular belief that Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich was killed by his father Ivan the Terrible, who struck him on the head with his scepter.

The painting depicts the moments following the altercation and focuses on Ivan the Terrible's anguish and remorse following the irreversible act. The painting depicts Ivan the Terrible cradling his dying son in his hands and bulging his eyes in an expression of horror and remorse.

Spread

Prior to its popularization as a redraw format, the painting inspired Photoshop edits among Russian-speaking users. On April 16th, 2010, YaPlakal^[2] user Jus posted a collection of Photoshop edits submitted by users of the Russian invite-only forum Leprosorium (several edits shown below). The thread received over 320 likes in 13 years.

On December 1st, 2013, DeviantArt^[3] user valerykorneev posted the earliest known redraw of the painting, a Neon Genesis Evangelion fan art. The post was favorited 12 times in 10 years (shown below, left). More fan art inspired by the painting where shared on DeviantArt in the following years: for example, on July 1st, 2014, DeviantArt^[4] user MoonlitBrush posted a My Little Pony fan art that garnered over 260 favorites in nine years (shown below, right).

More redraws and humorous edits of the painting were shared online in the late 2010s. For example, on August 14th, 2018, Redditor str_vr_studio posted an edit about virtual reality that gained over 540 upvotes in /r/vitrualreality^[5] in five years (shown below, left).

The painting achieved more popularity as a redraw format in the early 2020s. For example, on July 24th, 2022, Redditor Sweenoy posted a humorous Darkest Dungeon fan art that gained over 3,800 upvotes in the /r/darkestdungeon^[6] subreddit in one year (shown below, right).

Related Memes

Saturn Devouring His Son

Saturn Devouring His Son is a painting by Spanish artist Francisco Goya depicting the Titan Saturn eating one of his sons. The painting is inspired by Greek myth, as prophecy foretold Saturn would be overthrown by one of his sons, thus ate them as soon as they were born. The painting became one of Goya's most well-known works, and has been widely referenced in pop culture and parodied as an exploitable.

Various Examples

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External References