This is a photo from 1913 of the painting Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581 by Ilya Repin, after a modernist critic slashed at the canvas with a knife as protest for its artistic style. Although the painting was fully restored, and this was neither the vision of the artist nor the vandal, I like this version of the painting more than the original. The original shows the haunting image of the despotic Ivan the Terrible grieving over his son, who he accidentally beat to death during an argument – Russian audiences would have also been aware that, since his son was Ivan’s only sane heir, his death would put into motion the Time of Troubles, a period of civil war, invasion, and famine. In other words, Ivan the Terrible has not only killed his son, but doomed much of his kingdom to death. To me, the slashes represent his entire world falling apart.