What's going on in Konstantin Makovsky's painting, the LARGEST in Russian history?
Konstantin Makovsky was a master of genre painting and considered one of the most sought-after artists of his time. In 1870, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, president of the Academy of Arts, proposed that its teachers and students create works dedicated to the heroic deed of Kuzma Minin.
This was about one of the most famous episodes of the ‘Time of Troubles’ – the formation of a militia in Nizhny Novgorod against the Lithuanian-Polish invaders. In 1610, Moscow was occupied by a Polish-Lithuanian garrison, which lasted two years. Following the call of Patriarch Hermogenes, people organized a militia, but the first attempt was unsuccessful. In 1611, the zemstvo elder (district headman) Kuzma Minin began calling on the residents of Nizhny Novgorod to fight the Polish troops. He raised money for the militia and was soon joined by Prince Dmitry Pozharsky, who led the resistance. Their army routed the Poles: on November 6, 1612, the Polish garrison capitulated and surrendered.
A scene from the past
Makovsky decided to tackle this subject: He traveled to Nizhny Novgorod, studied the archives, made sketches and sought out subjects. The work did not progress quickly: The artist wanted to move away from his usual "colorful" canvases, adding depth to his new work. Another source of inspiration for him was Ilya Repin's large-scale painting ‘The Zaporozhian Cossacks Write a Letter to the Turkish Sultan’, which he completed in 1891. Makovsky returned to Nizhny Novgorod again and again, reading documents and observing life in the city. It was then that he met a local photographer named Andrei Karelin, who collected antiques – many of which "posed" for ‘Appeal of Minin’.
It became clear that this would end up being a large painting, significantly larger than anything the artist had previously painted. All that remained was to find a studio to transfer everything onto canvas. But then, a problem arose: there simply wasn't a suitable space in Russia! Even the Academy of Arts, to which Makovsky applied, couldn't help. Fortunately, a studio was found… in Paris. It had previously belonged to Vasily Vereshchagin and was perfectly equipped, most importantly, with a separate summer pavilion for working in natural light. Rails were installed on a circular platform, along which a trailer moved, storing the props and where the artist himself worked.
Finally, work was in full swing All that remained was to figure out how to "populate" the painting. Konstantin Makovsky solved it simply: He asked all his guests from Russia to pose for him and painted several characters based on them at once.
Home to Nizhny
The artist created a veritable pictorial symphony, featuring over 400 characters. At the center of the painting is Kuzma Minin, standing against the backdrop of Ivanovsky Descent from the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin to the Market Square. He calls for donations of property and money to organize a militia. Some Nizhny Novgorod residents are already following his call: a pile of donated goods is rising in the foreground.
To the right stands a clergyman reading a letter; apparently a message from Patriarch Hermogenes. At the same time, a procession with the icon of Our Lady of Kazan emerges from the Church of St. Nicholas in the Market Square.
"…look at it for 10 minutes and the painting comes to life. And then you see a real, excited crowd, filled with terrifying force, gathered to 'make history'," wrote Maxim Gorky.
In total, the artist spent more than 20 years (!) working on this enormous canvas (698 x 594 cm)! It was delivered from France to Nizhny Novgorod in 1896 for the ‘All-Russian Art, Trade and Industrial Exhibition’. It had to be exhibited in a separate pavilion. Later, ‘Appeal of Minin’ was shown in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Makovsky ultimately donated the painting to Nizhny Novgorod: from 1908 to 1972, it hung in the Armorial Hall of the City Duma. It was later moved to a special hall built for it in the Nizhny Novgorod Art Museum.