● Title

Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

● Artistic Objective

I believe the artistic objective of this piece of art was to portray the regret, pain, and
myriad of other emotions felt by Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan due to the rage and
actions of Ivan the Terrible.

● Techniques

The artist, Ilya Repin, created a painting that overall is very dark in its color choice and
subject matter. Along with this the painting also does well to depict the setting for the two
subjects and showcases the disheveled and darkened room. Finally the artist also put a lot
of attention to detail into painting the faces of the two main subjects and depicting their
intense emotions.

● Evaluation

This attempt at creating a work of art to showcase the emotions of Ivan the Terrible and
his son was a resounding success. The darkness around the two people portrayed in the
painting does well to parallel the dark matter that is going on: a father having just struck a
killing blow on his own son. It also showcases the horror, regret, and pain that Ivan the
Terrible is experiencing due to his fit of rage and losing control of himself causing the
death of his own son. We also are able to see on the face of his son a sort of resignation in
his final moments, almost as if he is trying to be at peace to bring some to his father.
Overall this painting aimed to depict a horrible event in history and did so so well that it
humanized these historical figures and allows us to vividly and powerfully witness their
pain and anguish.