Nikolay Vasilyevich Nevrev (1830–1904) was a Russian historical and genre painter, a Peredvizhnik artist, specializing in genre scenes with a satirical and revealing slant. That is, everything according to the canons of the Peredvizhniks. However, gradually he began to paint more and more pictures on historical themes, and earned money, like many other Russian artists, by creating portraits to order.
Oprichniks
But the most interesting are his genre scenes, and we will talk about the most notable of them in this article.
Protodeacon proclaiming many years at a merchant's name day
This picture has another title: "Father Prokadim Vonmiglasov announces many years". Of course, the name and surname are fictitious and ironic. Prokadim comes from the word censer, and Vonmiglasov is a combination of two Old Slavonic words: vonmi - to listen and glasov - voice. But it is unlikely that you will need to listen here, rather you will want to block your ears, as you do when watching some of our TV programs.
Protodeacon proclaiming longevity at a merchant's name day. fragment
According to the story, a rich merchant invited the priest to celebrate his name day, and the priest gladly accepted. The clergy were not paid a salary, and they earned their living by charging for church ceremonies and donations. The priest could not refuse such a tempting job, and he tried very hard. Nevrev slightly reduced the level of irony by depicting him in blue robes instead of the usual black, as priests usually wore. That is, this is a fictional character and has nothing to do with real priests. By the way, the most grateful spectators, that is, the merchant and his guests, are tipsy, but the merchant's wife has one ear plugged, unable to listen to the priest's singing, and her eldest son does not take much pleasure in playing music.
Bargaining. Scene from serf life. From the recent past
This is already Nevrev's most famous and resonant picture, which was repeatedly published in Soviet times in various textbooks telling about the suffering of serfs. And at the time of its creation it was very topical: serfdom had been abolished only five years before, and everything depicted in it seemed quite relevant.
Two rather unpleasant gentlemen are negotiating about their serfs, especially young girls. One of them is standing near the table. She is a real Russian beauty, probably not yet married, and they can pay a lot for her.
Portrait of a Russian beauty
And it is not a fact that she will simply work somewhere in the field and marry of her own free will. Most likely, the buyer will "skim the cream" if the girl is docile and manages to please him, keep her as a servant for some time, and then give her to some man so that the peasants will "breed and multiply" and increase his wealth. And there is not just one such girl: the headman has tried to gather beauties from the whole village - choose any you like, or if you want, take them all at once.
Portrait of the singer Leleva-Lutsanskaya
Behind the owner hangs a small portrait of Mirabeau, the French freedom fighter and orator who wrote the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It is possible that the seller wants to appear as a progressive and an aesthete: it is no coincidence that he wears a dressing gown, smokes an ornate pipe, and in the most honorable place hangs a painting with a nude, a French artist, not an icon.
Jester (disgraced boyar)
The buyer is not far behind, throwing dust in his eyes: he is wearing a Bolivar hat, which was considered a symbol of liberalism in those years. These are the pseudo-liberal gentlemen who, for their own benefit and pleasure, are engaged in a completely non-liberal business. In some ways, the situation depicted resembles human trafficking in Eastern slave markets, except that there is less exoticism, everything is familiarly Russian and ordinary, and the girls are not naked, but dressed in festive red sarafans.
Jean Leon Gerome. The Slave Market
But it is precisely in this ordinariness that the greatest horror lies.
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