Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan

On 16 November 1581, Tsar Ivan IV of Russia struck his eldest son and heir, also named Ivan, on the head with his iron-tipped staff during an argument. The blow killed the son and ended the Rurik dynasty (the son had no living heir, and the surviving son Feodor was mentally incapable). Repin painted the seconds after: the father cradling the dying son, the iron staff lying on the floor beside them — the murder weapon, still in the scene. Repin worked on the painting for three years, giving Ivan his own facial features. When the painting went on public display in 1885, Tsar Alexander III banned it. It was the first Russian painting to be censored by the tsar. Now at State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow @tretyakov_gallery