An immodest custom that Konstantin Makovsky depicted in his painting "Boyar Wedding Feast in the XVII century"

Konstantin Makovsky became famous for many wonderful paintings - it is no coincidence that he was the highest paid Russian artist, and without shame demanded exorbitant money for his artwork, for example, for the painting "Boyarsky wedding feast in the XVII century" asked Tretyakov 20 thousand rubles. Tretyakov was outraged and replied with a refusal, but Makovsky was not too upset, and not long thinking drove this picture to a rich jeweler from the United States Shuman, who did not spare 60 thousand rubles. That was in full delight, and to repay the investment decided to print a series of postcards with this picture, which in America flew like hotcakes. Then there was a fashion for a rich Russian style under the antique, and Makovsky's paintings corresponded to it perfectly.

To the crown

And it all started with live paintings in Makovsky's house - this fun became very popular among the creative intelligentsia at that time. It was necessary to divide into two teams, and one of them showed the plot of a painting, and the second tried to guess its name. Makovsky played this game with special pleasure, good each of them was a true connoisseur of painting, and the lack of the most educated and interesting guests were not observed - to go to visit Makovsky was prestigious, and none of the invited usually did not refuse. And how to refuse a conversation with intelligent and educated people in a cozy and rich living room of the artist, a good meal with expensive wine and interesting fun, like the same "live paintings". One should not think that the absence of television and the Internet somehow made the leisure time of our intelligentsia very difficult at that time, on the contrary.

Boyarina at the window

And for Konstantin Makovsky "live paintings" were more than fun, an opportunity to work on real paintings, a kind of creative method. He presented the composition of the painting in his memory, then the guests, following Makovsky's instructions, recreated it in real life, the whole thing was photographed and the artist just had to write another creation based on the photo. It was quicker and easier, there was no need for numerous sketches and sketches, although Makovsky, like Caravaggio, could not do without them.

The Kissing Rite (The Feast of the Boyar Morozov)

Makovsky painted a whole series of "boyar paintings", depicting the rich boyar Russia, which may have existed only in the artist's imagination. But how pleasant it is to plunge into this atmosphere of almost fairy-tale luxury and old-fashioned Russian traditions, to remember the time forever lost, but from this even more attractive. This is a kind of "glamorous" excursion into history, where everything ugly, even if realistic, is forgotten, and everything festive, rich and luxurious is elevated to an absolute and flaunted.

At tea

And, as it turned out, Makovsky's contemporaries were interested in just such idealized boyar Russia, because the real, thanks to the efforts of the Wanderers, they have seen in painting, and in ordinary life plenty.

Boyar wedding feast in the XVII century

But for all this Makovsky is not a fantasist, but rather a historian. He very authentically depicted the clothing, furnishings, decoration and wedding customs of the time. The hosts wanted to show their guests their wealth, so they put on show all the best dishes and chests with good things, and in the picture the key moment of the feast - the introduction of the dish "Swan". However, the young people did not touch it - they were supposed to eat only fried chicken and a glass of wine before the first wedding night, and at the same time listen to all the advice on how to behave in the bedroom - it is not by chance that the bride embarrassedly frowned, and already intoxicated guests are genuinely having fun. Perhaps all this is part of the wedding custom, which scrupulously, but in his characteristic "rich" style captured Konstantin Makovsky.

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