Found this today on my internet travels. I'd never seen it before but it really caught my eye. Turns out it's Ilya Yefimovich Repin's painting of Ivan the Terrible and his son. A little history, if you like:
Ivan the Terrible earned his moniker by being, as you may imagine, an incredibly terrible czar/tzar. In fact, he was one of the worst that imperial Russia experienced.
Although there are many tales of his brutality towards the serfdom, certainly his most brutal act was the murder of his eldest son, also named Ivan, on November 16, 1581. Just as an aside, it may interest you to know that the Latin word for this is "filicide." To please my pedantic nature, and to avoid potential confusion, I will use the Ivan the Younger's full name, Ivan Ivanovich, in my relaying of this tale. Also, the name "Ivan Ivanovich" is mildly humorous to me.
The story behind Ivan Ivanovich's death is certainly a curious one, and by this I mean it lurches slightly into the realm of the absurd. Current events just ain't what they used to be. But I'll get on with it and let you make your own mind up.
It just so happened that Ivan Ivanovich's wife liked to be rather scantily clad at all times, even during her pregnancy. Ivan the Terrible was incredibly offended and disgusted by this, and got so angry with her that he struck her violently. This caused her to miscarry, which obviously angered Ivan Ivanovich. An intense verbal confrontation between Ivan the Elder and his son ensued, and it quickly became a physical battle. Ivan the Terrible overpowered his son, stabbing him in the head with a spear; Ivan Ivanovich died bleeding in his father's arms. The Tsardom was passed into the hands of Ivan Ivanovich's younger and supposedly retarded brother, Feodor. Ivan the Terrible later tried to rape Feodor's wife, Irina, who was also Boris Gudonov's sister.
But you know what? That's not even the best part. Ivan the Terrible died playing chess. Isn't that great? I mean, he was poisoned by Gudonov and everything, but still, chess? A totally awesome way for someone called "Ivan the Terrible" to die.
Details! Because that is where the drama lies.
Hmm, these were the only closer details i could find. Anyway, some words about Repin himself:
Ilya Yefimovich Repin was born on the 5th of August, 1844 in the Ukraine. He was highly politically influenced, and his work went on to influence the artists of the Socialist Realism movement. Throughout his career, he mainly painted a mixture of contemporary and historical subjects. Later on, he painted important public figures of his homeland, namely Leo Tolstoy, Dmitri Mendeleev, Pobedonostsev, Mussorgsky, Pavel Tretyakov, and the Ukrainian poet and painter, Taras Shevchenko. Towards the end of his life, Repin mainly painted religious subjects. His most famous and masterful works (in other words, my favourites) are Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire (begun late 1870s, completed in 1891), They Did Not Expect Him (1884-88, on the subject of the Russian Revolution), Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan: November 16, 1581 (1885), Portrait of Leo Tolstoy (1893).
Useful links!:
http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/frivs/latin/latin-dict-full.html#F
http://russian-ukrainian-belarus-history.suite101.com/article.cfm/paintings_of_ilya_repin
http://tars.rollins.edu/Foreign_Lang/Russian/repdidnt.html
http://www.ilyarepin.org/
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