TERRIFYING PAINTINGS

"A PUPPET FOR THE NIECE", BY SANTIAGO CARUSO

Born in Argentina in 1982, Santiago Caruso is known for his

black-and-white symbolic art pieces. His limited colour

scheme and use of light focuses the eye on his

generally macabre themes.

"DULLE GRIET", BY PIETER BRUEGEL THE ELDER

Known as Mad Meg, Dulle Griet was a peasant woman who

led an all-female army to pillage the underworld in this

previously lost painting by Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

"LUCIFERO", BY FRANCESCO SCARAMUZZA

Francesco Scaramuzza’s painting of Lucifer gives us the creeps,

especially due to its slightly hazy appearance and the fact that the

devil is chowing down on a human snack. This painting

appeared as an illustration in Dante’s Inferno.

"STUDY OF THE HEADS OF TORTURE VICTIMS",

BY THEODORE GERICAULT

Theodore Gericault was a post-French Revolution painter using

Romantic art to criticize the monarchy and the prevalent

rational scientific views of the time. In his painting “Study of the

Heads of Torture Victims”, as in others, Gericault used real

body parts as his models. The heads’ expressions are said

to represent the pessimism of post-revolutionary France.

"UNTITLED", BY ZDZISLAW BEKSINSKI

The Polish painter Zdzislaw Beksinski is known for painting

scenes of a post-apocalyptic world in his trademark Gothic style.

"THE FLAYING OF MARSYAS", BY TITIAN

Flaying is the process of slowly skinning someone alive which

was used as a torture and execution method. In this painting

by Titian, the satyr Marsyas is flayed for losing a musical

challenge against the god Apollo. Gruesome as it is, the

story is meant to chastise the excessive pride of an

ordinary person (or satyr) to challenge a god.

"THE LAST JUDGMENT", BY FRA ANGELICO

A legendary Florentine painter of the 15th century, Fra Angelico

was known for painting Biblical scenes with a special

penchant for the last judgment and the return of Jesus.

"HEAD OF AN IDEALIST", BY KEN CURRIE

Scottish painter Ken Currie is known for his figurative and often

haunting portrait paintings. Here, he portrays the conflict between

thoughts of the people and of the intellectuals in the

seemingly dark and vacant eyes of the idealist.

"NIGHT CREEPER", BY ZDZISLAW BEKSINSKI

Zdzislaw Beksinki most often paints in the style known as

“Fantastic Realism”. Following its themes of deformed figures

and exaggerated scenes, as in most of his paintings,

“Night Creeper” gives off a sense of dread and fear.