What's going on in Grigory Myasoedov's painting?
Grigory Myasoedov was one of the founders of the ‘Society of Traveling Art Exhibitions’ – an association of artists whose goal was to truthfully reflect reality, sometimes with elements of sharp social criticism. One of the important themes of the associations' paintings was the life and traditions of Russian peasantry. The artists considered it their duty to highlight the unsightly, painful aspects of peasant life.
Myasoedov's painting ‘Bride Show’ (painted after 1860) fits perfectly into this tradition. It depicts one of the elements of matchmaking – the bride-viewing, when the groom's relatives and the matchmaker evaluate the bride's physical attributes. The future family needs a good worker and the mother of healthy children – hence the attention paid to the girl's physical appearance.
The viewer sees a spacious hut with high ceilings. A naked girl stands in the center. Light from the window falls on her figure, highlighting her as the main focus of attention. Opposite, on a bench beneath the window, are guests – the groom's relatives and the matchmaker. Their elaborate, multi-layered clothing contrasts with the bride's nakedness. They carefully and appraisingly examine the girl.
On the one hand, the artist emphasizes and even poeticizes the beauty of folk life: the bright room, the intricate costumes of the assembled guests. On the other hand, he emphasizes the humiliating nature of the ceremony: the future relatives examine and evaluate the bride like an animal or an inanimate object, like a commodity. With his painting, Myasoedov intended to show the merciless truth about peasant life, which perfectly fit into the artistic concept of the Itinerants. Except for one problem: peasants didn't strip the brides naked during the bride-viewing.
Of course, the bride-viewing was not a romantic rendezvous, but an important stage in the wedding contract between two families. The goals of the bride-viewing included assessing the bride's domestic skills (such as spinning, weaving and embroidery); her health and ability to work (to rule out signs of illness or lameness); studying her character and behavior (modesty, respect for elders, clarity of mind and manner of speech) and the family's financial situation (house, household, dowry), says folklorist Andrei Moroz.
In some regions, it was common practice to visit the bathhouse together, where one could actually see the bride naked. However, the groom's female relatives taking part in the process all remained clothed. The traditional peasant ceremony of bride-viewing was strictly regulated, including by moral norms. Stripping naked would have been contrary to all the canons of village life and, therefore, was not common. However, in order to achieve a more powerful statement and heighten social protest against women's lack of rights, Myasoedov deliberately exaggerated the situation.