Postumius Tiburzius Tötet Seinen Sohn (Detail) 1535

This is a detail from Domenico Beccafumi’s “Postumius Tiburzius Kills His Son." It was made during the Italian Renaissance, a period of artistic and intellectual flourishing but also rigid social hierarchies. Here, we see a father’s grim choice: execute his son for disobeying orders. Beccafumi makes sure the viewer sees the emotional toll of this decision. The surrounding women offer a study in grief and judgment. The women are witnesses to the act and to the complexities of masculinity and power. Is the father a hero upholding the law, or a tyrant sacrificing his own flesh and blood? The women seem to be grieving the loss of a young man, cut down in his prime, and in such an unnatural way. In a time when honor and obedience were paramount, this painting dares to ask: what are the costs of such values, and who bears them most? As you contemplate this image, consider the ways in which societal expectations can warp even the most fundamental human relationships.