It starts with little things, pet peeves that bother us yet we shrug them off. But as we go on, an internal volcano of rage continues to grow and become harder to let go. Suddenly the tiniest nuisance is just one more way of proving that the universe has conspired against us. We stay silent as this wrath bubbles through our body. We see those happy people without a care in the world. We hate them. We want to be them. But now that this anger has found a home in our soul, how do we set it free to go and torment someone else? How do we release these emotions without hurting anyone? By art, of course.
Just like sometimes you need a sad song for a sad day, a romantic comedy to bring your hopes up, or some Sci-Fi story for a moment you want to forget, art can also help us let go of the feelings that have taken over our life.
The following 13 paintings feature stories of rage, artists letting go of their demons through their palette, or vibrant colors that seem to be in the hue we see the world when we’re angry.
Viktor Vasnetsov, “Sirin and Alkonost Birds of Joy and Sorrow” (1896)
John Martin, “The Great Day of His Wrath” (1851)
Artemisia Gentileschi, “Judith Slaying Holofernes” (1611)
Francis Bacon, “Study after Velazquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X” (1953)
Andrea Mantegna, “Portrait of Carlo de Medici” (1466)
Francisco Goya, “Saturn Devouring His Son” (1819)
Franz Von Stuck, “The Struggle for Woman” (1905)
El Greco, “Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple” (1600)
Antoine Le Nain, “Blacksmith at his Forge” (1640)
Théodore Géricault, “The Raft of the Medusa” (1818)
Guido Reni, “David with the Head of Goliath” (1606)
Jakob Phillip Hackert, “Destruction of the Turkish Fleet in the Bay of Chesme” (1771)
Sebastiano del Piombo’s “Martyrdom of Saint Agatha” (1520)
