Secrets of the Tretyakov Gallery: How It Happened That Ilya Repin "Dress Up" a Secular Lady in the Clothes of a Nun

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

In the art of painting X-rays allow you to learn many interesting facts about old paintings. Opening a secret veil, they help forgotten heroes to find their true names, expose forgeries, and also reveal unknown paintings under famous masterpieces. So, for example, X-ray analysis of the painting "The Nun" by Ilya Repin unexpectedly showed that when it was created, the posing girl was dressed in a ball gown, and instead of a rosary in her hands there was a fan, which was revealed under the top layer of paint thanks to radiography. How did a secular woman end up in a black monastic outfit? This fascinating story and several others no less interesting are further in the review.

Last year, the Tretyakov Gallery hosted an exhibition entitled "Secrets of Old Pictures". The exhibits of the storerooms, storing legends and riddles, aroused considerable public interest, and the exhibition itself was a tremendous success.

Prehistory of the first version of IE Repin's painting "The Nun" (1878)

The portrait dates back to 1878, looking closely at which, you can see the discrepancy between the outfit and the expression on the girl's face. Her humble nun can hardly be called.

As an aspiring painter and student of the Academy of Arts, Repin lived next door to the family of the architect A. I. Shevtsov, who had two daughters. Many believed that Repin was carried away by the eldest, Sophia, but in 1872 Ilya married the youngest, young Vera.

Sophia, ironically, became the wife of his brother, Vasily, a student at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Ilya has painted portraits of Sofia Alekseevna more than once, one of which is kept in the Kiev National Museum of Russian Art.

From the memoirs of the artist's niece, it is reliably known that there was another portrait of the sister-in-law, posing for the painter in a ball gown, and that during one of the sessions Sophia and Ilya fell out violently. And the artist, being emotionally unbalanced and flammable, in one fell swoop turned the smart heroine of his canvas into a nun. Under a black robe, he hid a lush hairdo, a lace ball gown and a fan. It was a surge of emotion that overwhelmed the artist.

In confirmation of the veracity of the words of the memoirist, an X-ray photograph of the painting showed this on the lower layer, which was not cleaned off by the author. And what is interesting: the true relationship of Sofia Shevtsova and Ilya Repin remained a secret. As well as Sophia's reaction to the artist's act. The time remains covered with a mystery whether Pavel Tretyakov, who acquired it for his collection, was aware of this portrait.

The "nun" of 1878 is, in all likelihood, the artist's little revenge. For what? This we will never know. This is how human relationships change the fate of a painting.

The second version of IE Repin's painting "The Nun" (1887)

After a decade, in 1887, the painter, who respects biblical subjects and religion in general, as if in his own defense, will write a real portrait of a church servant. And he will call him the same as the previous one - "Nun". Only in contrast to the first picture, before us the artist will present the true appearance of the novice. Almost the same background space, the same angle, only the real heroine.

Presumably, the painting depicts Repin's cousin - Emilia, a nun of a nunnery, whose spiritual name was Eupraxia.

The Mystery of the "Portrait of an Unknown Man in a Cocked Hat" by artist F. S. Rokotov

Another mystery became clear thanks to the X-ray analysis of the painting "Portrait of an Unknown Man in a Cocked Hat."

For about two centuries it was believed that this is a portrait of Count A. G. Bobrinsky - the illegitimate son of Catherine II and her favorite Count Orlov. But the X-ray showed that under the upper artistic layer is the original image of a young woman, whose face Rokotov left unchanged in later painting.

It is reliably known that this portrait belonged to the Struisky family and it depicted the first wife of Nikolai Eremeevich - Olympias, who died in difficult childbirth. In all likelihood, before the second marriage, in order not to cause jealousy of the newlywed, Struisky asked Rokotov to disguise the portrait of his deceased wife as a man's image.

V. V. Pukirev "Unequal marriage" with its secrets and legends

The painting "Unequal Marriage" has its own legends and secrets. His ideological plan is connected with the real story of V. Pukirev's friend, Sergei Varentsov, who was in love with Sofya Nikolaevna Rybnikova and was going to marry her. But the parents, against the will of their daughter, passed her off to a close relative of Sergei - a wealthy merchant Andrei Alexandrovich Karzinkin. And the failed groom became the best man at this wedding.

In the sketch preceding the painting, in the image of a young man standing behind the bride with his arms crossed on his chest, Pukirev originally depicted Sergei Varentsov. And he, having learned about this, was offended by the artist, who wanted to make his story of unhappy love the property of the public. And the painter had no choice but to paint himself on canvas as best man.

Apparently, his own drama of unhappy love prompted him to take this step. Since the prototype of the young bride, he took a friend's sister - Praskovya Varentsova, who was married to an old man. Pukirev himself was passionately in love with her and, in order to somehow escape from the painful suffering, he went abroad. Both of these stories took place in 1861, and a year later the "Unequal Marriage" was created, for which in 1863 the Academy of Arts awarded VV Pukirev the title of professor of "painting of folk scenes". It was the first time that such a title was awarded for a painting not of a historical, but of an everyday nature.

And surprisingly, this story had an unexpected continuation. Quite recently, a pencil sketch made by a little-known artist Vladimir Sukhov in 1907 and signed by the author: "Praskovya Matveevna Varentsova" was discovered in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery. The same Praskovia, who 44 years ago became the heroine of the artist's painting in love.

The marriage of convenience did not bring the girl either happiness or money: Praskovya Matveyevna ended her days in the Mazurinskaya almshouse.

I. I Brodsky. What secret was hidden by the painting "Park Alley" (1930)

The fate of this painting is also very interesting. It was reliably known that shortly before the painting of "The Alley" the artist created the canvas "Roman Park", which for many years was considered lost. Researchers at the Tretyakov Gallery took a closer look at the "Alley", made an X-ray and found out that this picture is the missing "Roman Park". Brodsky painted over the statues, redrawn the audience and now - a new picture, without a touch of bourgeoisie. But the beauty of the picture did not change from this: the artist's unique manner of depicting shadows in space is amazing in its execution.

"Portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna in a man's suit" by an unknown artist

In the storerooms of the Tretyakov Gallery was found "Portrait of Elizabeth Petrovna in a man's suit", where she is depicted at the age of the crown princess. This canvas by an unknown artist is remarkable for the fact that it is painted on a thin canvas that was completely unusual for Russian painting of that time, through which oil and varnish seeped and formed a mirror portrait on the back.

Avant-garde and realist Ivan Klyun (Klyunkov)

This two-sided painting is by Ivan Vasilyevich Klyun (Klyunkov), a famous Russian avant-garde artist. On the front of the canvas is a picture of the avant-garde direction, and on the back is a self-portrait of the master himself, which serves as direct evidence that the artist could work in the direction of realism.

N. M. Kozakov "Girl with a tambourine". (1853)

It is noteworthy in this picture that the author left his signature on the girl's sleeve, which from a distance seems to be an elaborate pattern.

The history of painting is interesting not only for the mysteries of its creation, but also for such phenomena as plagiarism, imitation, coincidence, double paintings … An interesting selection of such canvases can be viewed here