Vasnetsov his paintings with titles. Fairytale paintings by Viktor Vasnetsov

Artist Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich

There was a time when his paintings entered the life of a young Russian from early childhood, and this name (like the author’s paintings) was known to anyone who graduated from a simple high school.

The artist’s creative path began in the 70s of the nineteenth century. This was the time when such famous peers and contemporaries of Vasnetsov as I.E. Repin, V.I. Surikov, V.D. Polenov were working. and many others. In those days, the Russian public followed the successes of the emerging “realistic art” with great interest and delight and simply “flocked” to the exhibitions of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.

There was a huge interest not only in painting. Literature, science, music - everything was interesting, everything was warmed by the idea of the revival of Russian culture and Russian traditions.

Viktor Vasnetsov was born on May 15, 1848 in the remote Vyatka village of Lopatya, in the family of a rural priest. The large family very soon, after the birth of Victor, moved to the village of Ryabovo, Vyatka province. The future artist spent his childhood in this God-forgotten village.

The life of the family of a rural priest differed little from the life of a simple peasant. The same vegetable garden, cattle, folk songs and fairy tales.

Soon the young man goes to Vyatka and becomes a student at the theological seminary. Studying was boring, and Victor began taking drawing lessons from the gymnasium teacher N.G. Chernyshova. Vasnetsov, with great joy and desire, painted from plaster and lithographs in the Vyatka Museum, and got a job as an assistant to the artist E. Andriolli, who at that time was painting the cathedral in Vyatka.

In 1867, the future artist came to St. Petersburg and a year later entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Here he began a completely different life: he became friends with Repin and Antokolsky, Stasov and Kramskoy. Countless meetings and literary parties, debates about the ways of development of Russian art and culture.

Many of the artist’s contemporaries recalled that at that time Vasnetsov became interested in reading Russian epics and studied national culture, folklore and folk art. However, his training at the academy became simply formal - his father died and Vasnetsov devoted more time to the elementary fight against poverty. I had to somehow live on my own and help my mother, who was left alone with young children in her arms. Maybe that’s why, later recalling the years spent at the academy, Vasnetsov called his only teacher only one Chistyakov P.P., with whom Victor developed friendly relations and to whom he very often turned for help and advice.

As a student, Vasnetsov became famous as the author of numerous drawings depicting genre scenes and urban types. In newspapers, critics praised the young author for his powers of observation, friendly humor, and democratic sympathy. And they predicted a great future for him as a typist (there was such a word. This is someone who draws types).

However, Vasnetsov sees himself as a serious artist and tries his hand at painting. His genre paintings are noticed by the public. The film “From Apartment to Apartment” was a particular success.

From apartment to apartment

This painting was purchased for his famous exhibition by P.M. Tretyakov.

Critics do not criticize the artist, but note that his genre paintings are not distinctive in composition and are modest in painting.

The painting “Preference” (1879) is of a completely different order.

Preference

She is called the best not only in the work of the young artist, but also in Russian genre painting of the second half of the nineteenth century. Here's what he said about this painting and about the artist Kramskoy:

Over the past 15 years, the entire Russian school has told more than it has depicted. Nowadays, he will be right who really portrays it not in a hint, but in reality. You are one of the brightest talents in understanding type. Don't you really feel your terrible power in understanding character?

However, despite the undoubted success, genre painting did not bring complete satisfaction to Vasnetsov himself. I wanted something completely different; other types and images attracted the artist.

Repin invites Vasnetsov to Paris - to unwind and look around, to be imbued with new ideas.

Vasnetsov lives in Paris for a whole year, studies the paintings of modern French masters, and visits museums. And he decides to return to Russia and settle in Moscow.

The desire to live in Moscow is not at all accidental - Moscow has long been attracting artists. Many years later he would write:

When I arrived in Moscow, I felt that I had come home and had nowhere else to go - the Kremlin, St. Basil's made me almost cry, to such an extent all this breathed on my soul as family, unforgettable.

It must be said that Moscow at that time attracted more than one Vasnetsov. Around the same time, Repin and Polenov moved to Moscow, and Surikov moved from the capital. Artists were keenly interested in the ancient capital, as a miraculous oasis capable of imbuing art with life-giving forces. We must not forget that the end of the nineteenth century was a time when interest in Russian history and national culture grew sharply.

It was in Moscow that Vasnetsov made a “decisive and conscious transition from the genre.” He suddenly clearly realized that all these years he had been vaguely dreaming of Russian history and Russian epics, old Russian fairy tales.

And very soon the artist’s first painting appeared as a result of these “historical dreams”.

After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavovich with the Polovtsians

“After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavovich with the Polovtsians” the public and critics greeted it quite coolly. The “people” demanded an archaeologically accurate depiction of the battle, but did not want to accept “fairy tales and epics”.

The artist tried to explain that while borrowing the plot from “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign,” he was not trying to create an illustration for the work. No. He deliberately removed the blood and dirt of a real battle from the canvas, and wanted to create a heroic picture that would reflect the Russian spirit and attract the viewer not with the terrible details of the past battle, but with hidden drama, beauty, and the creation of a poetic artistic image.

Chistyakov wrote to Vasnetsov:

You, most noble, Viktor Mikhailovich, poet-artist! The Russian spirit smelled so distant, so grandiose and in its own way original, that I simply became sad, I, a pre-Petrine eccentric, envied you.

The artist offered the public a completely new artistic language, which was initially not understood or heard.

But not everyone felt this way. As soon as the painting appeared at the exhibition, Tretyakov immediately acquired it, who realized what opportunities the new direction opened up for Russian realism. And from then on, the famous philanthropist and collector vigilantly followed every creative step of the artist.

Meanwhile, Vasnetsov’s life in Moscow was simply happy: he found good friends and often visited P.M. Tretyakov’s house. at famous musical evenings.

Another friend who played a big role in the artist’s fate was Savva Ivanovich Mamontov. The artist was always a welcome guest both in the country house and in the famous Abramtsevo estate. Mamontov simply selflessly loved Russian antiquity, folk art and supported young artists and writers. Very soon, thanks to the efforts of Vasnetsov, a friendly circle formed in Abramtsevo, which consisted of young artists, musicians, actors, writers who saw the origins of their creativity in Russian culture, in its origins and its uniqueness.

Paintings by Viktor Vasnetsov

It was in “Abramtsevo” (where the artist lived for a long time) that the first cycle of Vasnetsov’s fairy-tale paintings originated. The cycle opened with three paintings that were painted by order of Mamontov: “Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom”, “Alyonushka”, “Ivan Tsarevich on a Gray Wolf”.

Three princesses of the underworld

Alyonushka

Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf

Vasnetsov wrote paintings with fairy-tale scenes all his life. With all their diversity (and even unequal value), all the paintings are united, first of all, by the desire to reveal the inner content of a Russian fairy tale, to create an atmosphere that is real and at the same time fantastic. Fabulous. With a special understanding of good and evil. And faith in justice and the triumph of good.

Knight at the crossroads

Already in the artist’s first works one can see a great love for folk costume and attention to its details. It was during this period that the participants of the Abramtsevo circle began to engage in in-depth study of ancient folk costume, forms and ornaments. And Vasnetsov uses the acquired knowledge in painting his paintings.

Sleeping Princess

A striking example of his passion for folk costume was the artist’s sketch “In the Costume of a Buffoon.”

In a buffoon costume

In 1881, Vasnetsov painted one of his best fairy-tale paintings, “Alyonushka.” He painted this picture in Abramtsevo. There, in Abramtsevo, the artist began the artistic design of the play “The Snow Maiden”.

Chambers of Tsar Berendey. Set design for an opera

The performance was initially staged in Mamontov's house, and subsequently transferred to the professional stage.

With all the success of "Alyonushka", the most grandiose plan of the eighties was "Bogatyrs". The artist painted this picture for almost twenty years (1881-1898). It must be said that during this period Vasnetsov wrote several large and very significant works.

The frieze painting “Stone Age” (1882 - 1885) for the Moscow Historical Museum is 16 meters long, consisting of three parts: the first is dedicated to the life and everyday life of ancient people, the second is a scene of a mammoth hunt, the third is “The Feast”.

It was thanks to the “Stone Age” that the artist received a contract to paint the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv.

Sketches for painting the Vladimir Cathedral. Princess Olga and Nestor the Chronicler

In 1891, the painting work was almost completed and the artist, together with his family, returned to Moscow. By this period, the family’s financial situation had improved so much that the Vasnetsovs were able to buy a small estate in Abramtsevo and build a small house with a workshop in Moscow. It was in this workshop that the artist resumed work on “The Heroes” and, at the same time, began to paint the painting “Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible” (with this painting in 1897, the artist would perform for the last time at the exhibition of the Itinerants).

Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible

In 1899, the artist’s first personal exhibition opened in Moscow. And the central work of the exhibition becomes “Bogatyrs”.

Three heroes

In the last years of the 19th century, Vasnetsov was at the peak of his fame: the domestic and foreign press wrote well about the artist, his workshop was visited by famous musicians, artists and writers. Tretyakov in his gallery (already donated to Moscow) is building a special hall for Vasnetsov’s works.

During this period, the artist suddenly became fascinated by architecture. Many years ago, in Abramtsevo, two small buildings were erected according to the artist’s sketches: a house church and a “Hut on Chicken Legs”. Later - the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery and several private houses in Moscow.

mp-3 player

(musical accompaniment)

Sirin and Alkonost. Song of Joy and Sorrow

Oleg's farewell to his horse. Illustration for “Song about the prophetic Oleg” by A.S. Pushkin

Vasnetsov Viktor Mikhailovich (Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov, 1848–1926), great Russian artist, one of the founders of Russian Art Nouveau in its national-romantic version.
Born in the village of Lopyal (Vyatka province) on May 3 (15), 1848 in the family of a priest. He studied at the theological seminary in Vyatka (1862–1867), then at the drawing school at the Society for the Encouragement of Arts in St. Petersburg (where Vasnetsov’s mentor was Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy) and at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1868–1875).

Vasnetsov is the founder of a special “Russian style” within pan-European symbolism and modernity. The painter Vasnetsov transformed the Russian historical genre, combining medieval motifs with the exciting atmosphere of a poetic legend or fairy tale; however, the fairy tales themselves often become the themes of his large canvases. Among these picturesque epics and fairy tales of Vasnetsov are the paintings “The Knight at the Crossroads” (1878, Russian Museum, St. Petersburg), “After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians” (based on the legend “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, 1880), “Alyonushka” (1881), “Three Heroes” (1898), “Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible” (1897; all paintings are in the Tretyakov Gallery). Some of these works (“Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom,” 1881, ibid.) represent decorative panel paintings that are already typical of Art Nouveau, transporting the viewer to the world of dreams. For a long time the artist could not find a model for his painting “Alyonushka”. None of the girls, according to the artist, resembled the fairy-tale sister of Ivanushka, whom he so clearly imagined. But one day the artist realized that his heroine should have the eyes of Verochka Mamontova (the same one with whom Serov wrote his “Girl with Peaches”). And he immediately rewrote the face again, asking the girl to sit motionless in front of him for at least half an hour.

Vasnetsov proved himself a master of decorative painting in the panel “Stone Age” (1883-85), written for the Moscow Historical Museum, depicting the ancient ancestors of the Slavs. But his greatest achievement in the field of monumental art was the painting of the Kyiv Vladimir Cathedral (1885-96); Trying to update the Byzantine canons as much as possible, the artist introduces a lyrical, personal element into religious images and frames them with folklore ornaments.

Vasnetsov’s contribution to the history of architecture and design is also original. In the Russian style, he saw not just an excuse to imitate antiquity, but also the basis for reproducing such properties of ancient Russian architecture as organic, “vegetative” integrity and decorative richness of forms. According to his sketches, a church was built in Abramtsevo in the spirit of the medieval Pskov-Novgorod tradition (1881-82) and the humorous fairy-tale “Hut on Chicken Legs” (1883). He also developed the decorative composition of the facade of the Tretyakov Gallery (1906) with the coat of arms of Moscow (St. George defeating the dragon) in the center.

After 1917, the artist went entirely into the fairy-tale theme, as eloquently evidenced by the titles of the last large canvases: “The Sleeping Princess”, “The Frog Princess”, “Kashchei the Immortal”, “Princess Nesmeyana”, “Sivka-Burka”, “Baba Yaga” , “Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom”, “Sirin and Alkonost”... He lived on a pension granted to him as an honored artist by the Soviet government, to which he, in turn, was forced to sell the house, which is now a house-museum. In the upper room of this house, to this day there is a heroic oak table with an image of a huge Double-Headed Eagle in full width, which clearly illustrates the scale and spirit of Vasnetsov’s monarchism. The importance of Vasnetsov for the development of the creative element of Russian monarchism is difficult to overestimate. It was in his paintings that the generation of future theorists of the Russian autocracy was brought up (I. A. Ilyin, P. A. Florensky). It was Vasnetsov who gave rise to the national school in Russian painting (M. Nesterov, P. Korin, I. Bilibin). Black and white postcards with images of Vasnetsov’s paintings, published in millions of copies during the First World War, contributed to the high patriotic rise of the Russian spirit. The artist’s influence on Soviet art and culture was no less great; it was Vasnetsov’s budyonnovkas (or as they were originally called - bogatyrkas), designed by the artist for a single festive parade of the tsarist army, which, due to a special combination of circumstances, became the form of the army that in 1918-1922 restored the unity of the country and rebuffed foreign intervention.

Vasnetsov died in Moscow in his studio, working on a portrait of the artist M. V. Nesterov.

The younger brother of the famous Viktor Vasnetsov, much less known, Appolinary Vasnetsov was also an artist - he was by no means his timid shadow, but had a completely original talent. An excellent master landscape painter, A. M. Vasnetsov became famous as an expert and inspired poet of old Moscow. It’s rare that someone, having once seen it, will not remember his paintings, watercolors, drawings, recreating the excitingly fabulous and at the same time so convincingly real image of the ancient Russian capital.

IN In 1900, Appolinary Vasnetsov became an academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, then headed the landscape class at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture, and since 1918 he headed the Commission for the Study of Old Moscow and conducted archaeological research during excavation work in the central part of the city.

The grandson of Viktor Vasnetsov, Andrei Vasnetsov, also became an artist, later the founder of the so-called “severe style”. In 1988-1992 Andrei Vasnetsov was the chairman of the Union of Artists of the USSR, a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, and since 1998 a member of the Presidium. He was the honorary chairman of the Vasnetsov Foundation.

mp-3 player

(musical accompaniment)

Sirin and Alkonost. Song of Joy and Sorrow

Oleg's farewell to his horse. Illustration for “Song about the prophetic Oleg” by A.S. Pushkin

Vasnetsov died in Moscow in his studio, working on a portrait of the artist M. V. Nesterov.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov was born in 1848 on May 15 in a village with the funny name Lopyal. Vasnetsov's father was a priest, as were his grandfather and great-grandfather. In 1850, Mikhail Vasilyevich took his family to the village of Ryabovo. This was due to his service. Viktor Vasnetsov had 5 brothers, one of whom also became a famous artist, his name was Apollinaris.

Vasnetsov’s talent manifested itself from childhood, but the extremely unfortunate financial situation in the family left no options for how to send Victor to the Vyatka Theological School in 1858. Already at the age of 14, Viktor Vasnetsov studied at the Vyatka Theological Seminary. Children of priests were taken there for free.

Having never graduated from the seminary, in 1867 Vasnetsov went to St. Petersburg to enter the Academy of Arts. He had very little money, and Victor put up 2 of his paintings for “auction” - “The Milkmaid” and “The Reaper”. Before leaving, he never received money for them. He received 60 rubles for these two paintings a few months later in St. Petersburg. Arriving in the capital, the young artist had only 10 rubles.

Vasnetsov did an excellent job in the drawing exam and was immediately enrolled in the Academy. For about a year he studied at the Drawing School, where he met his teacher -.

Vasnetsov began studying at the Academy of Arts in 1868. At this time, he became friends with, and at one time they even lived in the same apartment.

Although Vasnetsov liked it at the Academy, he did not graduate, leaving in 1876, where he lived for more than a year. At this time, Repin was also there on a business trip. They also maintained friendly relations.

After returning to Moscow, Vasnetsov was immediately accepted into the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. By this time, the artist’s drawing style was changing significantly, and not only the style, Vasnetsov himself moved to live in Moscow, where he became close to Tretyakov and Mamontov. It was in Moscow that Vasnetsov came into his own. He liked being in this city, he felt at ease and performed various creative works.

For more than 10 years, Vasnetsov designed the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. M. Nesterov helped him in this. It was after the completion of this work that Vasnetsov can rightfully be called a great Russian icon painter.

1899 became the peak of the artist’s popularity. At his exhibition, Vasnetsov presented to the public.

After the revolution, Vasnetsov no longer lived in Russia, but in the USSR, which seriously depressed him. People destroyed his paintings and treated the artist with disrespect. But until the end of his life, Viktor Mikhailovich was faithful to his work - he painted. He died on July 23, 1926 in Moscow, without finishing the portrait of his friend and student M. Nesterov.

Victor Vasnetsov. Alyonushka.
1881. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

An important role in the artist’s life was played by his acquaintance with the Moscow family of a major industrialist and entrepreneur, the famous philanthropist Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, who managed to unite the largest Russian artists around him into a community, later called the Abramtsevo circle. Musical evenings, performances of live paintings and evening readings of dramatic works and folk epic monuments, conversations about problems of art and the exchange of news coexisted in the Mamontovs' house with lectures by historian Vasily Klyuchevsky about the past of Russia. In the Mamontov community, Vasnetsov felt with renewed vigor the aesthetic value of Russian culture...

If portraits of close people helped Vasnetsov in creating the ideal of national beauty, a national type, then in Abramtsevo and its environs with their oak, spruce, birch forests and groves characteristic of central Russia, the Vorey River, which is intricately winding with dark backwaters, and ponds overgrown with sedge , deep ravines and cheerful lawns and hillocks, a type of national landscape was developed.

Many of the artist’s works were conceived and realized in whole or in part here. “Alyonushka” was also painted here, a picture in which Vasnetsov most fully and soulfully embodied the lyrical poetry of his native people. “Alyonushka,” the artist later said, “it was as if she had been living in my head for a long time, but in reality I saw her in Akhtyrka, when I met one simple-haired girl who captured my imagination. There was so much melancholy, loneliness and purely Russian sadness in her eyes... Some special Russian spirit wafted from her." Vasnetsov turned to the fairy tale about Alyonushka and her brother Ivanushka, in his own way, creatively translating it into painting. According to folk legends ", nature comes to life at the end of the day, gaining the ability to feel in harmony with man. Such sensations were to a large extent inherent in the artist himself, which is why in Alyonushka the state of nature is so organically coordinated with the feelings of the heroine. The figure of Alyonushka, thinking about her bitter fate, seems to echoed by the pale gray sky, and the frighteningly dark surface of the pool with yellow leaves frozen on it, and the faded gray tones of the drooping foliage of aspen trees, and the dark deep green of fir trees.

Victor Vasnetsov. Archangel Michael defeats the devil.
1914-1915. Canvas, oil. 292.2 x 129. House-museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, Moscow, Russia.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov had a deep knowledge of complex Orthodox symbolism. Like many generations of Vasnetsovs, he studied at a theological seminary. Later he used the acquired knowledge in monumental painting and in his temple paintings. Just as pagan and Christian beliefs were intricately intertwined in the popular consciousness, the artist managed to reconcile these two worldviews in his paintings.

The painting “Archangel Michael” was preceded by paintings of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev, sketches of paintings for the St. George Church in Gus-Khrustalny, for the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg, for the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, commissioned by the royal family for the Church of St. Magdalene in Darmstadt. A believer, Viktor Vasnetsov saw his real calling in working for the church.

In 1915-1916, at the 13th exhibition of the Union of Russian Artists, Vasnetsov presented a large canvas “Archangel Michael”. This majestic and menacing image is widespread in religious art. Archangel Michael (in Greek - supreme military leader) is dressed in chain mail and armed with a sword, shield or spear, or both. The wings spread behind his back indicate his angelic nature, belonging to the heavenly Hierarchy. Satan - either in half-human form or in the form of a dragon - is prostrate under the feet of the Saint, who is ready to kill him.

In Rus', Archangel Michael has always been considered the patron saint of warriors fighting for a just cause. Often his winged figure adorned the helmets of the ancient Russian army.

In the Old Testament, Archangel Michael is one of the seven archangels of the Lord, the guardian angel of Israel, his name comes from the Hebrew “who is like God.” Christian tradition describes him as standing at the head of a host of heavenly angels, the defender of the world from the prince of darkness. Michael led the heavenly host to victory over Lucifer and the fallen angels. In the Book of Revelation (12:7-9) it is written about this: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought against them, but they did not stand, and there was no longer room for them. in the sky. And the great dragon, the ancient serpent, was cast down (...)"

Victor Vasnetsov. Bogatyri (Three Bogatyrs).
1898. Oil on canvas. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

Already during his studies at the Academy of Arts, Vasnetsov’s attraction to folk origins became apparent. In those years, he completed about two hundred illustrations for “The People's Alphabet”, “Soldier's Alphabet” by Stolpyansky, and “Russian Alphabet for Children” by Vodovozov. He illustrated the fairy tales “The Little Humpbacked Horse”, “The Firebird” and others. In 1871, a pencil sketch of the future famous painting “Bogatyrs” appeared, and from then on this plot did not leave the artist.

In the spring of 1876, Vasnetsov left for Paris for a year, where I.E. was already working. Repin and V.D. Polenov. Thanks to Repin, upon his arrival in Paris, Vasnetsov was immediately involved in studying and understanding the rich artistic life of the French capital, filled with intense struggle. Disputes and heated debates started at exhibitions were transferred to A.P.’s workshop. Bogolyubov, where Russian painters often gathered. All this intensely encouraged Russian artists to think about a national school of painting. Repin's Parisian painting "Sadko in the Underwater Kingdom" (1876), where Vasnetsov posed for Sadko, although it remained his only one in this subject, clearly spoke of the possible paths of national quest. In turn, Vasnetsov, having once entered Polenov’s Parisian workshop, quickly wrote the famous sketch of “Bogatyrs” (1876), splashing out his “dream” about epic Russian history as completely mature and established. Vasnetsov presented this sketch to Polenov, but he agreed to accept the gift only after the large canvas was completed. This event occurred in 1898, and since that time the sketch has been in the collection of Polenov’s paintings in the museum he organized.

At the beginning of 1885, Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov received from A.V. Prahova invitation to take part in the painting of the newly built Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. Vasnetsov had a peculiarity that more than once surprised the people around him. He could simultaneously perform a wide variety of tasks that were incompatible at first glance. So, among the intense work on the paintings of the Vladimir Cathedral, he found time to reflect on the huge canvas “Bogatyrs”, which he transported with him from Moscow to Kiev, and to work on the painting “Ivan the Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf”, which he showed in 1889 at the exhibition of the Association of Itinerants in St. Petersburg; He performed theatrical sketches and made book illustrations, not to mention the numerous landscapes and portraits he painted during the years of “sitting in Kyiv.”

Victor Vasnetsov. Ivan Tsarevich on a gray wolf.
1889. Oil on canvas. 249 x 187. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

It so happened that nearly three decades passed between the first pencil sketch (1871), and more than two decades between the Paris sketch and the canvas “Heroes” (1898), which crowns the heroic cycle of the painter’s works.

“I worked on the Bogatyrs, perhaps not always with the proper intensity... but they were always relentlessly in front of me, my heart was always drawn to them and my hand reached out! They... were my creative duty, an obligation to my native people... ", the artist recalled.

"Bogatyrs" - the largest, most significant painting by Viktor Vasnetsov - is a powerful epic song to Russia, its great past - a picture designed to express the spirit of the Russian people.

Vasnetsov “breathed Russian antiquity, the Russian ancient world, the Russian ancient structure, feeling and mind,” noted critic V. Stasov. And here the artist demonstrates his deep understanding of Ancient Rus', the characters of the ancient Russians.

In accordance with the epic images, Vasnetsov developed the characters of his characters. In the center is Ilya Muromets. Ilya Muromets is simple and powerful, you can feel calm, confident strength and wisdom from life experience in him. Strong in body, despite his formidable appearance - in one hand, tensely raised to his eyes, he has a club, in the other a spear - he is filled with "goodness, generosity and good nature." The hero on the right, the youngest, “brave in appearance” is Alyosha Popovich. A young handsome man, full of courage and boldness, he is a “soul-guy”, a great inventor, singer and psaltery player, in his hands he has a bow and a spear, and a harp is attached to the saddle. The third hero, Dobrynya Nikitich, is representative and dignified, in accordance with the epics. Subtle facial features emphasize Dobrynya’s “knowledge,” his knowledge, culture, thoughtfulness and foresight. He can carry out the most complex assignments that require resourcefulness of the mind and diplomatic tact.

The characters, as was customary in realistic painting and according to Vasnetsov’s creative principle, are specific, their costumes, weapons, chain mail, and stirrups are historically accurate. Bogatyrs are endowed with a memorable appearance and bright character traits. Only these characters are not genre, but heroic.

You see the heroes all together at once. They appear to be presented from below, from the ground, and this makes them look solemn, monumental, and personify people’s strength.

The artist did not skimp on details; every detail in the picture has its own meaning. The heroes stand on the border of the field and the forest. An excellent master of the “spiritualized” landscape, Vasnetsov brilliantly conveys the state of nature, in tune with the mood of the heroes. And the movements of the horses, the horse’s manes fluttering in the wind, are echoed by the yellow feather grass. White heavy clouds swirl in the sky. The free wind gathers them into clouds and walks across the sun-scorched earth. A bird of prey hovering over the edge of the forest and gray burial grounds add an additional tone of danger. But the whole appearance of the heroes speaks of the reliability of these defenders of the Russian land.

In ancient epics and songs, most often the hero is not only a warrior, but also a godly person, “a hero in humility, in squalor.” Such are Vasnetsov’s heroes, people’s saints.

Vasnetsov’s painting itself in “Bogatyrs”, its monumental forms, noble decorative qualities moved towards a different counting of merits in art than before, towards the birth of new conquests of his “revelations and secrets”. We can say that Russian painting of the twentieth century emerged from Vasnetsov’s “Bogatyrs”.

In April 1898, Vasnetsov was visited by Pavel Tretyakov. For several minutes he silently peered at the painting that covered the entire right wall of the artist’s studio, and the question of purchasing “Bogatyrs” for the gallery was resolved. The painting took its permanent place in the Tretyakov Gallery. This was one of Pavel Mikhailovich’s last acquisitions.

With the completion of the painting, the idea of a personal exhibition of the artist became urgent. Such an exhibition was organized in March-April 1899 on the premises of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts. Thirty-eight works of painting were presented there. The center became the most “capital”, according to Stasov, work - “Bogatyrs”.

Victor Vasnetsov. Knight at a crossroads.
1882. Oil on canvas. 167 x 299.
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Pencil sketches and sketches for the painting appeared in the early 1870s. In 1877, Vasnetsov wrote the sketch “Warrior in a Helmet with Chain Mail” based on his brother Arkady. The plot of the film was inspired by the epic “Ilya Muromets and the Robbers.”

In 1877, work on the first version of the painting was completed. Vasnetsov exhibited it at the VI Traveling Exhibition in 1878.

The final version of the painting was painted in 1882 for Savva Ivanovich Mamontov.

The inscription on the stone corresponds to the epic texts, but is not completely visible. In a letter to Vladimir Stasov, Vasnetsov writes:

“On the stone it is written: “No matter how straight you go, you will never be alive - there is no way for a passer-by, a passer-by, or a flyover.” The following inscriptions: “to go in the right direction - to be married; go to the left - you will be rich” - they are not visible on the stone, I hid them under the moss and erased some of them. I found these inscriptions in the public library with your kind assistance.”

Critic Stasov praised the picture.

In the initial sketches, the knight was turned to face the viewer. In the latest version, the size of the canvas was increased, the composition was flattened, and the figure of the knight became more monumental. In the initial versions of the picture there was a road, but Vasnetsov removed it in the 1882 version for greater emotionality, so that there was no other way out other than the one indicated on the stone.

Vasnetsov also addressed the epic theme in his early watercolor “Bogatyr” (1870) and later paintings “Bogatyrs” (1898) and “Heroic Leap” (1914)

The paintings are painted in oil on canvas. The 1882 version is kept in the State Russian Museum. The 1878 version is kept in the Serpukhov Historical and Art Museum.

The plot of “The Knight at the Crossroads” is reproduced on the artist’s tombstone at the Vvedensky cemetery.

Victor Vasnetsov. Warriors of the Apocalypse.
1887. Oil on canvas. Sketch of the painting of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. State Museum of the History of Religion, St. Petersburg, Russia.

"The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" is a term describing four characters from the sixth chapter of the Revelation of John the Theologian, the last of the books of the New Testament. Scholars still disagree on what exactly each of the horsemen represents, but they are often referred to as the Conqueror (Antichrist), War, Famine and Death. God calls them and gives them the power to wreak holy chaos and destruction in the world. The horsemen appear in strict succession, each with the opening of another of the first four of the seven seals of the book of Revelation.
Horsemen

The appearance of each of the horsemen is preceded by the Lamb removing the seals from the Book of Life. After removing each of the first four seals, the tetramorphs exclaim to John - “come and see” - and apocalyptic horsemen appear in front of him one by one.
Rider on a white horse

And I saw that the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder: Come and see. I looked, and behold, a white horse, and a rider on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he came out victorious, and to conquer. — Revelation 6:1-2

The white color of a horse is usually seen as the personification of either evil or righteousness.
Rider on a red horse

And when he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come and see. And another horse came out, a red one; and to him that sat on it was given power to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another; and a great sword was given to him. — Revelation 6:3-4

The second horseman is usually called War (“War”), and he administers judgment in the name of God himself. Often he personifies war. His horse is red, in some translations - “fiery” red or red. This color, as well as the large sword in the hands of the horseman, signify the blood shed on the battlefield. The second horseman can also personify a civil war, as if in contrast to the conquest that the first horseman can personify.

According to St. Andrew, Archbishop of Caesarea, here of course is the apostolic teaching preached by the martyrs and teachers. By this teaching, upon the spread of the sermon, nature was divided against itself, the peace of the world was disrupted, for Christ said “he did not come to bring peace (on earth), but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). By confessing this teaching, the sacrifices of the martyrs were raised to the highest altar. The red horse means either shed blood, or the heartfelt zeal of the martyrs for the name of Christ. The words “to him who sits on him it is given to take peace from the earth” indicate the wise will of God, which sends trials for the faithful in adversity.
Rider on a black horse

And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature saying, Come and see. I looked, and behold, a black horse, and its rider had a measure in his hand. And I heard a voice among the four living creatures, saying: A quinix of wheat for a denarius, and three quinixes of barley for a denarius; But thou shalt not spoil the oil and wine." - Revelation 6:5-6

The third horseman rides a black horse and is generally believed to represent hunger. The black color of the horse can be considered the color of death. The horseman carries a measure or scales in his hand, signifying the way of dividing bread in times of famine.

Of all four horsemen, the black one is the only one whose appearance is accompanied by a spoken phrase. John hears a voice coming from one of the four animals, which speaks about the prices of barley and wheat, while speaking about the integrity of oil and wine, it is implied that in connection with the famine rushing by the black horseman, the prices of grain will rise sharply, and the price of wine and the oil will not change. This can be explained naturally by the fact that cereals tolerate drought worse than olive trees and vine bushes, which take deep roots. This statement can also mean an abundance of luxuries with an almost complete depletion of essential goods, such as bread. On the other hand, the preservation of wine and oil can symbolize the preservation of Christian believers who use wine and oil for communion.

A black horse can also mean crying for those who have fallen from faith in Christ due to the severity of torment. Libra is a comparison of those who have fallen from the faith either by inclination and fickleness of mind, or by vanity, or by weakness of the body. The measure of wheat for a dinar perhaps signifies sensual hunger. In a figurative sense, the measure of wheat, valued by a denarius, means all those who labored legally and preserved the image of God given to them. Three measures of barley can be those who, due to lack of courage, submitted to the persecutors out of fear, but then brought repentance.
Rider on a Pale Horse

And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature, saying, Come and see. And I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and its rider, whose name was “death”; and hell followed him; and power was given to him over the fourth part of the earth - to kill with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence, and with the beasts of the earth. — Revelation 6:7-8

The fourth and final horseman is called Death. Among all the horsemen, this is the only one whose name appears directly in the text. However, it is also called differently: “Plague”, “Pestilence”, based on various translations of the Bible (for example, the Jerusalem Bible). Also, unlike the other riders, it is not described whether the last rider is carrying any object in his hand. But hell follows him. However, in illustrations he is often depicted carrying a scythe or sword.

The color of the last rider's horse is described as khl?ros (??????) in Koine, which translates as "pale", but other possible translations include "ash", "pale green" and "yellow green". This color represents the pallor of a corpse. Other real colors, such as mousey and piebald, can also match this color.

In some translations, it does not mean power was given to him, but power was given to them, which can be interpreted in two ways: either given to them - this is Death and Hell, or this can sum up the purpose of all horsemen; Scientists disagree here.

Victor Vasnetsov. Gamayun, the prophetic bird.
1897. Oil on canvas. 200 x 150.
Dagestan Art Museum, Makhachkala, Russia.

Gamayun - according to Slavic mythology, a prophetic bird, a messenger of the god Veles, his herald, singing divine hymns to people and foreshadowing the future for those who know how to hear the secret. Gamayun knows everything in the world about the origin of earth and sky, gods and heroes, people and monsters, birds and animals. When Gamayun flies from sunrise, a deadly storm arrives.

Originally from Eastern (Persian) mythology. Depicted with a woman's head and breasts.

The collection of myths “Songs of the Gamayun Bird” tells about the initial events in Slavic mythology - the creation of the world and the birth of pagan gods.

The word "gamayun" comes from "gamayun" - to lull (obviously because these legends also served as bedtime stories for children). In the mythology of ancient Iranians there is an analogue - the bird of joy Humayun. “Songs” are divided into chapters - “Tangles”.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov was the first among painters to turn to epic fairy-tale subjects, convinced that “in fairy tales, songs, epics, dramas, etc., the whole entire appearance of the people, internal and external, with the past and present, and perhaps the future, is reflected.”

“The Flying Carpet” is Vasnetsov’s very first fairy-tale painting, written by him after the famous painting “After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians.”

Vasnetsov chose a motif unprecedented in fine art. He expressed the people's long-standing dream of free flight, giving the picture a poetic sound. In the wonderful sky of his childhood, Vasnetsov depicted a flying carpet soaring like a fairy-tale bird. The victorious hero in elegant attire stands proudly on the carpet, holding by a golden ring a cage with a captured Firebird, from which an unearthly glow emanates. Everything is done in bright colors and speaks of the young artist’s brilliant decorative abilities. Vasnetsov also appeared here as a master of subtle landscape-mood. The earth goes to sleep. The coastal bushes are reflected in the river, and these reflections, the fog, and the light light of the month evoke lyrical feelings.

This painting was commissioned from Vasnetsov by Savva Ivanovich Mamontov, a major industrialist and philanthropist, who contributed to the unification of talented people into a creative artistic union, called the Abramtsevo circle. As the chairman of the board of the Donetsk railway under construction, he ordered three canvases from the artist, which were supposed to decorate the board’s office with paintings that served as fairy-tale illustrations of the awakening of the new railway of the rich Donetsk region. One of the themes of the paintings was the “Magic Carpet” - a fabulously fast means of transportation.

“Having found out through questions and conversations what I was dreaming about,” the artist later said, “Savva Ivanovich invited me, supposedly for the walls of the board of the future road, to simply paint what I wanted.” The board did not agree to have the paintings, considering them inappropriate for office premises, and then Mamontov bought two paintings himself - “The Flying Carpet” and “Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom”, and his brother bought “The Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs”.

“The Flying Carpet” was shown at the VIII exhibition of the Itinerants, causing a storm of controversy in magazines, newspapers and spectators. None of the leading Peredvizhniki listened to such polar opinions regarding their works, often coming from the same circle. It cannot be said that Viktor Mikhailovich was indifferent to both popularity and criticism. But the inner strength felt by everyone in him seemed to lift him above both praise and blasphemy. He was called "the true hero of Russian painting."

Later, Vasnetsov again turned to this plot when working on his “Poem of Seven Tales.” Here Ivan is depicted with his betrothed Elena the Beautiful (in versions of fairy tales - Elena the Wise, Vasilisa the Beautiful, etc.) The picture is full of romanticism and tenderness. Loving hearts unite, and the heroes, after many trials, finally find each other.

“The Poem of Seven Tales” includes seven paintings: The Sleeping Princess, Baba Yaga, The Frog Princess, Kashchei the Immortal, Princess Nesmeyana, Sivka Burka, and the Flying Carpet. These paintings were created by the artist solely for the soul, and are currently a decoration of the V.M. Vasnetsov Memorial House-Museum in Moscow.

Flying carpets have been known in literature almost since biblical times. Although the idea was prevalent in Middle Eastern literature, the popularity of the Arabian Nights tales carried it into Western civilization. In different versions, the flying carpet is also found in Russian fairy tales.

Victor Vasnetsov. After the massacre of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians.
1880. Oil on canvas. 205 x 390. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

In 1880, Vasnetsov completed one of his most significant paintings - “After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsians.” For the audience, everything was new in this film, and new things are not immediately accepted. “They stand with their backs in front of my picture,” Viktor Mikhailovich mourned. But I. Kramskoy, who recently persuaded Vasnetsov not to abandon the everyday genre, called “After the Massacre...” “an amazing thing... which will not soon be truly understood.” The artist and outstanding teacher Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov understood the essence of the painting more deeply than anyone else; he felt Ancient Rus' itself in it and in a letter to Viktor Mikhailovich excitedly exclaimed: “The original Russian spirit came over me!”

The theme of the painting was the field after the battle and death of Igor Svyatoslavich’s regiments, which became a heroic outpost on the borders of their native land, when “Igor’s banners fell and the Russians perished on an unknown field.” The pictorial rhythm of the picture is close to the epic sound of “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign.” In the tragic pathos of death, Vasnetsov wanted to express the greatness and selflessness of feelings, to create an enlightened tragedy. The bodies of not dead warriors were scattered on the battlefield, but, as in Russian folklore, “eternally asleep.” In the restrained, strict poses and faces of the fallen, Vasnetsov emphasizes significance and majestic calm. The character of the picturesque images recreated by Vasnetsov also corresponds to the Lay. They are majestic and sublimely heroic. The image of a beautiful youth-prince, inspired by the description of the death of the young Prince Rostislav, sounds with a soulful lyrical note in the solemn structure of the picture. The poetic stanzas of the Word about the death of the courageous Izyaslav are inspired by the image of a hero resting next to him - the embodiment of the valor and greatness of the Russian army. For the painting, the artist used everything that appeared before him in the Historical Museum, when he studied the decorated ancient armor, weapons, and clothing here. Their shapes, patterning and ornamentation create beautiful additional motifs for the decorative composition on Vasnetsov’s canvas, helping to convey the aroma of the epic tale.

Vasnetsov's painting was shown at the VIII exhibition of the Wanderers, and opinions about it were divided. Disagreements in the assessment of the painting for the first time indicated a difference in views among the Peredvizhniki on the essence of the Russian artistic process and the further paths of development of Russian art. For Repin, who unconditionally accepted Vasnetsov’s canvas, it was “an extraordinarily wonderful, new and deeply poetic thing. Such things had never happened in the Russian school.”1 But other artists, for example, Grigory Myasoedov, who saw the tasks of realistic art in the genre and everyday reproduction of reality and a truthful and accurate depiction of life and types in a historical plot, not only did not accept the painting, but also strongly protested against its acceptance into the exhibition.However, Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov did not pass by the canvas and acquired it for his gallery from the VIII exhibition of the Itinerants.

Victor Vasnetsov. Sirin and Alkonost. Bird of Joy and Bird of Sorrow.
1896. Oil on canvas. 133 x 250. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

Alkonost (alkonst, alkonos) - in Russian and Byzantine medieval legends, the bird of paradise-maiden of the sun god Khors, who brings happiness, in the apocrypha and legends the bird of light sadness and sadness. The image of Alkonost goes back to the Greek myth of Alcyone, who was transformed by the gods into a kingfisher. This fabulous bird of paradise became known from the monuments of ancient Russian literature (Palea of the 14th century, alphabet books of the 16th-17th centuries) and popular prints.

According to the legend of the 17th century, the alkonost is near heaven and when he sings, he does not feel himself. Alkonost consoles the saints with his singing, announcing to them the future life. Alkonost lays eggs on the seashore and, plunging them into the depths of the sea, makes it calm for 7 days. Alkonost’s singing is so beautiful that those who hear it forget about everything in the world.

Alkonost is depicted in Russian popular prints as a half-woman, half-bird with large multi-colored feathers (wings), human hands and a body. A maiden head, overshadowed by a crown and a halo, in which a short inscription is sometimes placed. In his hands he holds flowers of paradise or an unfolded scroll with an explanatory inscription. Some descriptions of Alkonost mention the Euphranius River as its habitat.

There is a caption under one of the popular prints with her image: “Alkonost resides near paradise, sometimes on the Euphrates River. When he gives up his voice in singing, then he doesn’t even feel himself. And whoever is close then will forget everything in the world: then the mind leaves him, and the soul leaves the body.” Only the bird Sirin can compare with Alkonost in sweet sound.

The legend about the Alkonost bird echoes the legend about the Sirin bird and even partially repeats it. The origins of these images should be sought in the myth of the sirens.

Si?rin [from Greek. seir?n, wed. siren] - bird-maiden. In Russian spiritual poems, she, descending from heaven to earth, enchants people with her singing; in Western European legends, she is the embodiment of an unfortunate soul. Derived from the Greek Sirens. In Slavic mythology, a wonderful bird, whose singing disperses sadness and melancholy; appears only to happy people. Sirin is one of the birds of paradise, even its very name is consonant with the name of paradise: Iriy. However, these are by no means the bright Alkonost and Gamayun. Sirin is a dark bird, a dark force, a messenger of the ruler of the underworld.

1879. First option. Canvas, oil. 152.7 x 165.2. Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia.

In 1880-1881, Savva Mamontov ordered three paintings from Viktor Vasnetsov for the office of the board of the Donetsk Railway. Vasnetsov wrote “The Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom”, “The Flying Carpet” and “The Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs”. The film is based on a fairy tale. The painting “Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom” personifies the wealth of the subsoil of Donbass, for which the plot of the fairy tale is slightly changed - it depicts the princess of coal. Board members did not accept Vasnetsov’s work on a fairy-tale theme as inappropriate for office space. In 1884, Vasnetsov painted another version of the painting, slightly changing the composition and coloring. The painting is acquired by Kyiv collector and philanthropist I.N. Tereshchenko. In the new version, the position of the hands of the princess of coal has changed; now they lie along the body, which gives the figure calmness and majesty. In the film "Three Princesses of the Underground Kingdom" one of the characters - the third, youngest princess - will receive further development in female images. The hidden spiritual sadness of this humbly proud girl will be found both in his portraits and in fictional images.

Three princesses of the underworld.
1884. Second option. Canvas, oil. 173 x 295. Museum of Russian Art, Kyiv, Ukraine.

V.M. Vasnetsov and the religious-national direction in Russian painting of the late XIX - early XX centuries.

Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov is loved by many as an artist of Russian epics and fairy tales, who managed to penetrate into their wonderful world full of mysteries. But few people remember that Vasnetsov expressed his selfless devotion to the Fatherland in religious painting, where he sang the glory of the Russian land - the custodian of Orthodoxy.

Viktor Vasnetsov was born on May 3/15, 1848 in the village of Lopyal, Vyatka province, into the family of a priest, who, according to the artist, “infused into our souls a living, indestructible idea of the Living, truly existing God!”

After studying at the Vyatka Theological Seminary (1862-1867), Vasnetsov entered the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, where he seriously thought about the place of Russian art in world culture.

In 1879, Vasnetsov joined the Mamontov circle, whose members held readings, painted and staged plays in the winter in the house of the outstanding philanthropist Savva Mamontov on Spasskaya-Sadovaya Street, and in the summer they went to his country estate Abramtsevo.

In Abramtsevo, Vasnetsov took his first steps towards a religious-national direction: he designed a church in the name of the Savior Not Made by Hands (1881-1882) and painted a number of icons for it.

The best icon was the icon of St. Sergius of Radonezh is not a canonical, but deeply felt, taken from the heart, dearly loved and revered image of a humble, wise old man. Behind him stretches the endless expanses of Rus', the monastery he founded is visible, and in the heavens is the image of the Holy Trinity.

In 1885, the famous historian and artist, professor at St. Petersburg University, A.V. Prakhov suggested that Vasnetsov paint icons and paint the main nave of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv. The artist accepted this order as an opportunity to serve God and fulfill his duty. He threw himself into the work that E.G. Mamontova, the wife of a philanthropist, called it “the path to the light.”

The author of the painting project, Prakhov, believed that the interior decoration of the cathedral should give it “the significance of a monument of Russian art” and embody “the ideal that animates a generation,” so Vasnetsov was entrusted with a special mission - the creation of new painting that visually expressed the religious, ethical and aesthetic ideals of the time .

The central place in Vasnetsov’s work belongs to the image of the Savior. When working on the image of the Almighty in the dome of the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv, the artist took special care in finding a worthy form to convey deep spiritual content. In a letter to E. G. Mamontova, he wrote: “... I truly believe that it is the Russian artist who is destined to find the image of the World Christ.”

Having analyzed the iconographic achievements of past times, Vasnetsov noted the obvious success of Russian artists, and also singled out the “Christ of Ravenna and Palermo,” the “personal” image created by Leonardo da Vinci and Titian, the “completely impersonal” Raphael and Michelangelo, and the image of Christ in the paintings of I. Kramskoy, N. Ge and V. Polenov called “folk”. Vasnetsov considered the best example in Europe in recent centuries, combining Byzantine and folk features, the image of Christ created by A.A. Ivanov.

Vasnetsov's work was crowned with success. The face of the Kyiv Pantocrator is comparable to mosaic images in the St. Sophia Cathedral (2nd half of the 13th century) and the Chora Church (14th century) in Constantinople. They are united by a single state - spiritual calm, but in general the compositions differ.

The figure of Christ in the dome of the Vladimir Cathedral is engulfed in vortex dynamics, which gives the image vivid expressiveness. The general movement begins in the image of ribbon-shaped clouds, then develops in a spiral in the folds of the himation and reaches its highest point in the closed fingers of Christ’s right hand. All expression comes down to this point - the blessing of the Lord - the key point of iconography. Blessing people from heaven, Christ calls them to take the true path to gain eternal life. The revealed Gospel speaks about this with the text “I am the light of the whole world. Walk on me, not to walk in darkness, but to have the light of life” (John 13-46) in the left hand of the Savior. Metropolitan Hilarion believed that the image in the dome of the Vladimir Cathedral contains the main idea of the entire painting - the spread of the gospel source to believers.

At the beginning of the twentieth century. Vasnetsov executed the mosaic "Savior Not Made by Hands" on the grave of General Min (Admiral Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich). Later, the artist repeated this icon over the gate with a belfry leading to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in St. Petersburg ("Savior on the Waters") - a temple-monument to the sailors who died in the Battle of Tsushima. In this image, Vasnetsov reflected his personal concern for the fate of Russia and its people. The tragedy of the Russo-Japanese War shocked the artist, and he considered the death of the battleship Petropavlovsk a disaster that “can barely be endured.”

The revolution of 1905 became “the main pain and wound of the soul” of the artist. “May God forgive our sins and help our poor Motherland, which is suffering so hard! Send goodness to the people! Help God to come to their senses for the lost!” - the artist wrote several days after “Bloody Sunday”.

Vasnetsov’s Christ was presented shoulder-length, wearing a crown of thorns, wearing a blood-red tunic, against the backdrop of a sunset. His face, marked by unbearable suffering, suggests that the artist depicted a fragment of the Crucifixion scene and showed the Lord at the moment of his suffering on the cross. An unquenchable lamp burned in front of the icon. The mosaic image has not survived. In 1932, the Cathedral of Christ the Savior was blown up. Vasnetsov did not live to see this sad event.

Contemporaries of Viktor Vasnetsov called him “the creator of the Russian Madonna.” The image of the Queen of Heaven sounds like the leitmotif of his entire religious work. The first icon of the Mother of God carrying the Child Christ in front of her was painted by Vasnetsov for the Abramtsevo Church. Already in this small-sized work, the monumental iconography of the Blessed Virgin is outlined, to which the artist will be faithful until the end of his days, and which can be called “Vasnetsov’s”. Vasnetsov repeated it, but on a larger scale, in the altar of the Vladimir Cathedral.

The iconography of the Most Holy Theotokos, carrying the Child Christ in her arms and giving Him into the world, was the result of Vasnetsov’s creative search for the ideal image of the Mother of God. The preliminary sketch “The Mother of God Walks on the Clouds Surrounded by Seraphim and Cherubs” was signed by the artist as follows: “Quasi una fantasia” (“Like one fantasy”).

The artist depicted the Queen of Heaven on a golden background, walking on the clouds to meet everyone who entered the temple. With both hands She hugs, as if wanting to protect from the coming evil, her Son, in whom the features of the artist’s son Misha can be discerned. The waving of his hands is a natural gesture of small children, open to a new world for them, taken from life: one morning the wife took her son out of the house, and the child joyfully reached out with his hands to the surrounding nature. But the face of the Infant Christ is not childishly serious and concentrated.

The entire figure of the Mother of God is engulfed in the same movement as the Pantocrator in the dome. The correspondent of the Moskovskie Vedomosti newspaper S. Flerov drew attention to this: “If you raise your eyes to this image (of the Almighty - V.G.) and then lower them to the image of the Mother of God located right in front of you, you will experience an amazing feeling: you suddenly you will see that the Mother of God is quietly rushing upward, there, to the Savior..."

The Virgin Mary is surrounded by nine cherubs. Their number corresponds to the hour at which Christ was executed. They anxiously look at the Most Pure Virgin and the Child in Her arms, as if foreseeing His fate.

In the image of the Mother of God, Vasnetsov showed the national ideal of motherhood and intercession, “the essence of moral duty and the idea of feat ... self-denial, which constitutes the national trait of the Russian character with its ideal simplicity in the implementation of what is necessary and proper.”

The altar image of the Vladimir Cathedral became Vasnetsov’s best church work, “a symbol of his faith in Orthodoxy, in Russia, in its revival.” The Mother of God knows that Her Son will become an atoning sacrifice for the salvation of people. Depicted above the altar of the Vladimir Cathedral, She humbly and obediently brings the Child to this altar. Having endured heartache at the Crucifixion, mourning the death of Christ, but believing in His resurrection, She became an intercessor for people. At the Last Judgment, the Most Pure Virgin grieves and asks Christ to have mercy on sinners. This is how the Mother of God is represented in the composition “The Last Judgment” on the western wall of the Vladimir Cathedral. Her eyes are filled with tears, She clasped her head with one hand, and with the other lightly touches the Son’s shoulder, trying to soften His anger. The image of the Mother of God, overwhelmed by great sadness for people, introduces a bright note into the overall dramatic and intense structure of the iconography of the “Last Judgment” - hope for the mercy of the Lord and His forgiveness.

Vasnetsov performed three more altar images of the Mother of God for the Russian Church of St. Mary Magdalene Equal to the Apostles in Darmstadt (1901), the St. George Church in Gus-Khrustalny (1895-1904) and the Cathedral of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky in Warsaw (1904-1912). ).

In the Darmstadt mosaic, the artist presented the Most Holy Theotokos on a throne in the clouds with two angels standing before Her, hovering over a swampy landscape, and in the other two he developed his own compositions of the plot “He rejoices in You...”.

One of them, in the Warsaw Cathedral, reflects Vasnetsov’s desire to glorify the centuries-old history of Orthodox Russia. The composition of the sketch is elongated horizontally and is divided into the earthly and celestial spheres by extended ribbons of clouds. In the center is the Mother of God on the throne, with the Child on her lap. On either side of Her, in the heavenly sphere, angels are symmetrically represented, and above Her is a three-domed temple. Orthodox saints are shown below according to their hierarchical position. To the right of the Mother of God are representatives of the Universal Church: Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine with the cross and Helen, John of Damascus with the text of the hymn, kneeling Roman the Sweet Singer, Nicholas the Wonderworker, Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, John Chrysostom, Athanasius the Great, etc. Behind them are the Old Testament prophets. To the left of the Virgin Mary are depicted representatives of the Russian Church: Equal-to-the-Apostles Vladimir with the cross and Olga, Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk, Sergius of Radonezh, Moscow saints Peter, Jonah and Alexy, Cyril and Methodius, Nestor the Chronicler, etc. Behind them are the apostles.

About the creation of the image of the Mother of God with the Child, Vasnetsov wrote: “...I do not risk competing with the holy icon painters, but I consider it obligatory to seek inspiration from them. “Rejoices in You” - the Mother of God with the Child will be seated this time, and based on her image I take "Tenderness" that touches me to the depths of my soul."

In scenes from the Holy Scriptures, the artist developed his own iconographic line, based on the rich experience of his predecessors. Vasnetsov created his own “passion cycle”, which included: mosaics “Crucifixion”, “Carrying the Cross”, “Descent from the Cross” and “Descent into Hell” on the facade of the Church of the Resurrection and the now lost frescoes “Praying for the Cup” and “Carrying the Cross” "from the Church of the Savior on the Waters in St. Petersburg; painting "Calvary" for St. George's Church in Gus-Khrustalny.

In these compositions by Vasnetsov, iconographic motifs merged with the techniques of monumental paintings or panels. Striving for maximum authenticity in showing events, the artist often overloaded the plot with narrative details, elements of costume and landscape. But, even taking into account all the shortcomings, Vasnetsov’s works attract people with their emotional mood and the master’s ability to convey the spiritual meaning of the event shown to him. The works of Vasnetsov's "Passion Cycle" are polyphonic. In them one can hear the sound of the footsteps of the tortured Christ and the ringing of Roman spears ("Carrying the Cross"), the quiet cry of the Mother of God and the uncontrollable sobbing of Mary Magdalene ("Crucifixion"), the rejoicing of the righteous and the singing of angels ("The Descent of Christ into Hell").

The iconography of "Golgotha" has no prototypes in ancient Russian painting. The basis of the composition was a creative reworking of the famous “Crucifixion” plot. The composition of "Calvary" is filled with characters, each of whom is marked by a special mood from hatred and anger to silent grief and despair. All shades of the mental state of the people present during the execution of the Lord are conveyed exclusively by plastic means. The hands of the depicted characters express more emotions than their faces. In the center are the outstretched hands of Christ, reminiscent of the wings of a wounded bird; next to it, a crucified robber is depicted in a broken line; the hands of Mary Magdalene are limply lowered to the foot of the cross, raised in an angry exclamation and fists clenched in powerless agony in the crowd.

The pinnacle of Vasnetsov’s religious creativity and Russian church art of the late 19th century. can be considered the iconography of the "Last Judgment".

The artist addressed the theme of Doomsday twice - in the Vladimir Cathedral in Kyiv and in the St. George Church in Gus-Khrustalny. In terms of artistic expressiveness, the Kiev painting surpasses the painting for the Gusev church, for which it received high praise from contemporaries. This once again confirms the idea that Russian society at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. needed a new interpretation of the plots of the Holy Scriptures, which Vasnetsov’s paintings provided.

The composition of the “Last Judgment” on the western wall of the Vladimir Cathedral is balanced by a clear relationship of masses and color spots and has a clearly defined center - a semantic node in which an angel is depicted with scales and a scroll. Vasnetsov uses here his favorite technique of horizontally dividing the composition into the celestial and terrestrial spheres.

In the heavenly sphere on the clouds are represented the Lord with the cross and the Gospel, filled with a menacing impulse towards sinners, the Mother of God grieving on His shoulder and the kneeling prophet John the Baptist. They are surrounded by symbols of evangelists, apostles and angels.

Below, to the right of Christ are the righteous, looking up to heaven in prayer, to the left are sinners, thrown by a disorderly stream into the fiery abyss, from which the Serpent bursts out. Trumpeting angels - the messengers of the Apocalypse - are the connecting links of the upper and lower parts of the composition.

The righteous rising from their graves follow St. in clear groups. Macarius of Egypt, the founder of monasticism, and rush to Christ. Vasnetsov specially lengthened the proportions of their bodies, likening them to burning candles.

The figures of sinners are swirled in a whirlwind of tossing and passions. Among them there are characters in royal and ecclesiastical garb. By this, Vasnetsov showed the equality of everyone before the Court of God. At the doorway of the temple, the artist placed the figure of a righteous woman looking upward, contrasting her with the general chaos of sinners. Here Vasnetsov depicted the moment of separation of souls, one of which goes to the righteous, and the other drowns in a sinful whirlpool. Hands reaching out to each other, grieving faces bring universal human experiences into this grandiose theme.

The contrasting combination of colors: blue at the top, white in the center and blood red at the bottom creates a mystical mood. Fear, horror, immeasurable sadness and holiness merged here.

Vasnetsov's "Last Judgment" has a strong emotional impact on those in the temple. This is not just a reminder of the coming end of the world. The scene seems to pull the viewer inside and make them feel what is happening.

The painting was enthusiastically received in society, but Vasnetsov was not satisfied with what had been achieved. He thought through the composition of the next painting for the western wall of St. George's Church for many years, constantly studying ancient Russian examples of the "Apocalypse".

In 1895, having begun work on the canvas, he wrote: “The composition is very complex and must be developed according to the images of the “Court” in ancient Orthodox icon painting.” Vasnetsov refused the offer of the customer Yu. S. Nechaev-Maltsev to visit Rome again to be inspired by the paintings of Michelangelo and Raphael. He wondered: “Shouldn’t one rather avoid seeing them, so as not to succumb to the spell of these great sorcerers in the world of images?” He completed 21 preparatory sketches, choosing watercolor for the work, with which the coloristic effects of a fresco can be achieved on paper. Vasnetsov painted the final work in oil on canvas. In it, he tried to most accurately reproduce ancient iconography, but the choice of oil painting technique did not allow him to achieve a successful result.

This painting was less expressive than the painting in the Vladimir Cathedral, but it also had a “stunning impression” on the public. “This is not a composition by Vasnetsov, this is the sum of painfully passionate religious fantasies of Christian artists of all times and peoples. Here are the great Italians, and decadents, and Byzantium, and most importantly, our old Moscow icons. Everything is brought into harmony with the requirements of our church painting. ..” - this is how the writer and historian P. P. Gnedich described Vasnetsov’s work.

Another grandiose in scale and design painting in the Vladimir Cathedral deserves attention - “The Only Begotten Son, the Word of God” on the vault. The main idea of the plot is the atonement of human sins by Jesus Christ and the victory of the Lord over death, which is what Vasnetsov focused his attention on.

The central element of his composition was the “Crucifixion”. Vasnetsov presented Christ at the moment of death, surrounded by angels covering His body with wings. Two angels support the cross, trying in vain to alleviate the suffering of the Lord. The background is the blood-red glow in the sky after the eclipse.

The scene following the "Crucifixion" above the cathedral choir depicts "God the Word" in the image of Emmanuel, sitting on the clouds with a cross and a scroll in his hands, surrounded by a tetramorph. On the scroll are written the words of the prayer “The Only Begotten Son is the Word of God...”. Instead of a mandorla around Christ, Vasnetsov depicted a disk of the rising sun from which light emanates. This gives the feeling that the painting is illuminated from within by Favorian, divine light.

On the other side of the “Crucifixion,” Vasnetsov unfolded the iconography “God of Hosts.” He addressed her twice - in the Vladimir Cathedral and in the Alexander Nevsky Church in Warsaw.

On the vault of the Vladimir Cathedral, Vasnetsov presented God the Father sitting on a rainbow in the Universal Cosmos, surrounded by fiery seraphim and angels. The Holy Spirit is depicted in a golden ball on His chest. Vasnetsov's host is wise, stern and sad. Seraphim reverently fall to Him, angels bow before Him. He is the Creator of the world, who gave His creation to people and sees its desecration. In order to save people who have sinned before Him, He sends His Son with boundless love as an atoning sacrifice and grieves for Him. This is how God the Father is shown on the vault of the Kyiv temple.

This image, with minor changes, was repeated in the plot “The Trinity Lord Himself in Persons” in Warsaw Cathedral. The painting has been lost, but the preparatory cardboard has been preserved. The image is inscribed in a circle formed by the intertwined wings of seraphim, to the left and right of which the fiery and black seraphim fall. The gray-haired Host in flowing white robes sits on a rainbow and blesses in the hierarchical manner - with both hands. Around His head is an octagonal halo, characteristic of the first hypostasis of the Trinity. On the left knee of God the Father sits the youth Christ in a golden tunic and himation with an open Gospel in his hands. He, as before, is endowed with the portrait features of the artist’s son. Next to Him, the Holy Spirit is depicted in the form of a dove in a ball.

Unlike the image of God the Father in the Vladimir Cathedral, the Warsaw image is endowed with severity and asceticism, which brings it closer to ancient depictions.

A special place in Vasnetsov’s religious works is occupied by images of saints. The artist developed many iconographies, but the ones he painted best were Russian saints.

“These images contain all of ancient Rus', all the religious symbolism of its history: a bishop, a holy princess, a lonely monk-chronicler and a prince, the heir of the Varangians...” - his contemporary, art critic S. Makovsky wrote about Vasnetsov’s works.

The host of ascetics, noble princes, saints and saints created in the interior of the Vladimir Cathedral became a kind of hymn to the entire Christian world and its center - Orthodox Rus'. If the decoration of a medieval temple was called by researchers a “bible for the illiterate,” then Vasnetsov’s church paintings can rightly be called an “encyclopedia of asceticism,” and the artist himself can be called the creator of a gallery of Russian holiness.

Vasnetsov's works show the saint and the era in which he lived. Unlike canonical hagiographies, in the hallmarks of which individual episodes are recorded, Vasnetsov’s icons convey the spirit of the times. The artist deliberately focused on conveying the time and place of action, because he wanted his painting to glorify the feat “For Faith, Tsar and Fatherland” accomplished in Holy Rus'. The images of saints reflected the religious and patriotic attitude of the majority of Russian society. Here the religious-national direction proposed by Vasnetsov was fully embodied.

In painting icons, Vasnetsov was guided by hagiographic literature and documentary descriptions. The image of St. executed by him on the pillar of the Vladimir Cathedral. Alipiya, the Kiev-Pechersk icon painter, is fully consistent with the iconographic original of the 18th century, but for better recognition Vasnetsov introduced additional narrative details into the iconography. He depicted the saint in an icon-painting workshop, and placed jars of paints at his feet.

These techniques, also characteristic of other subjects, became decisive in recognizing saints. Nestor the Chronicler is shown writing in his cell at the open window, beyond which stretches a landscape with city towers and churches. Procopius for Christ's sake, the holy fool, is presented against the background of a terrible cloud hanging over Veliky Ustyug, and the enlightener of the Vyatichi Kuksha is depicted with a cross and an open Gospel in his hands, indicating his preaching activities in Vasnetsov’s homeland in Vyatka.

Vasnetsov endowed some saints with portrait features of his contemporaries (for example, Prince Vladimir in “The Baptism of Rus'” and “The Baptism of Vladimir” resembles Vladimir Solovyov, a famous philosopher and poet at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries). This trend was typical at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, when a portrait became a kind of icon of a specific person, and an icon, on the contrary, a portrait of a saint. But the images of saints executed by Vasnetsov still cannot be classified as such icons. Rather, the artist followed the concept of a “sacred ideal type” to which “the Russian people expressed their concepts of human dignity” and to which “together with prayer, he turned as models and leaders in his life.”

In Vasnetsov's icons, warmth of the heart ("Procopius of Ustyug", "Sergius of Radonezh"), spiritual wisdom ("Nestor the Chronicler", "Alipius the Iconographer"), courage and perseverance ("Andrei Bogolyubsky", "Princess Olga"), qualities, characteristic specifically of Russian saints. To enhance the monumentality of the composition, the artist practically abandoned the main and half-length images and presented full-length figures with an extremely low horizon line.

Vasnetsov's works are replete with numerous narrative details (books with bookmarks at the feet of Nestor the chronicler, small crutches of Procopius of Ustyug, a rosary and a candle in the hands of St. Eudokia, all kinds of ornaments). National decorative motifs are present even in those works where they are not at all appropriate. For example, in the central iconostasis of the Vladimir Cathedral, Mary Magdalene is shown against the backdrop of epic architecture. It is obvious that Vasnetsov’s passion for folk art was reflected here. Brought up in native Russian traditions, the artist was deeply imbued with folk art. It was this that inspired him to depict epic images of saints, real pillars of the Orthodox faith.

Vasnetsov's religious painting was highly appreciated by his contemporaries. The artist himself was modest and did not talk about his merits. Today, few people know that in 1896 he was awarded the Order of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir, 4th degree, for painting the Vladimir Cathedral.

On June 13, 1912, for his work in the Warsaw Church, Vasnetsov was elevated to hereditary nobility, and on December 31, 1913, Emperor Nicholas II granted the artist the rank of full state councilor outside the order of service.

The beginning of the First World War was perceived by the artist with great excitement. He felt personally responsible for the fate of Russia and decided to donate the annual rent of 1,500 rubles assigned to him by the emperor to the needs of wounded soldiers. “No matter what you talk about, no matter what you think about, there is always a great unforgettable heavy thought in your soul - war!” - Vasnetsov wrote.

In 1914, he took part in an exhibition organized by the “Artist to Fellow Soldiers” Committee, which was headed by his brother Apollinary Vasnetsov. He presented the drawing “The Knight,” which he executed for the evening of the All-Russian Zemstvo Union for Helping the Wounded, and the poster painting “The Battle of Ivan Tsarevich with the Sea Serpent,” written for the city bazaar for helping the wounded. The image of the glorious knight Ivan Tsarevich, bravely fighting the hated villain, had a strong impact on the people who stood up to defend the Motherland, because it gave a vivid example of epic history, an example of courage, perseverance and righteousness.

The October Revolution of 1917 brought great changes to the artist’s life. Vasnetsov did not accept the new political system and called it “social-Pugachevism.”

In the post-revolutionary years, he lived in Moscow in his house on Troitsky (now Vasnetsovsky) Lane, which he personally designed in 1893-1894. According to the apt remark of F.I. Chaliapin, Vasnetsov’s house was “something in between a modern peasant hut and an ancient princely mansion.”

Here, leading a quiet lifestyle, the artist continued to paint fairy tales. The magical world of Russian fairy tales brightened up Vasnetsov’s last years, and he completely devoted himself to his beloved art.

Throughout his career, the artist turned to the legendary and heroic images of Russian legends, be it paintings, illustrations, costumes or scenery. The theme of fairy-tale-epic Rus' sounds like the leitmotif of Vasnetsov’s work, while work in churches became “the work of his whole life.”

On July 23, 1926, Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov died suddenly. Shortly before his death, the artist painted a cross with a crucifix for the Church of Adrian and Natalia, of which he was a parishioner.

Throughout his life, Vasnetsov the artist burned with one desire - to embody the “Russian original spirit” in his works, regardless of their genre. For this purpose, he often deliberately deviated from the rules and canons.

Vasnetsov dreamed of a reunification of the intelligentsia and people who did not understand each other under the arches of a temple built and decorated in honor of the Orthodox faith and Russian history. This dream led him to the creation of a unique religious-national direction, which visually reflected the aesthetic, ethical and theological aspirations of Russian society of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Eclectic in nature, the new direction was based on the national heritage, but was expressed exclusively in a new form, the main feature of which was beauty.

Vasnetsov’s church works became an example of the picturesque decoration of Orthodox churches of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, because they reflected not only the teaching of the Orthodox Church about the Lord, but also the ideas of the believing people about Russia with its heroic history and unique culture, imbued with the light of true faith.

Victoria Olegovna Gusakova,
Head of the “Culture and Art” cycle of the St. Petersburg Cadet Rocket and Artillery Corps,
Ph.D. in History of Arts.