In 1988, the Leningrad graphic artist Svetozar Alexandrovich Ostrov made an etching to depict the relationship between Prince Zvezdich and Baroness Strahl — the main characters in the drama “Masquerade” by Mikhail Lermontov. An etching is an engraving on a zinc or copper plate, where the design is etched with acid; it is also an impression of such an engraving made on paper or cardboard.

Mikhail Lermontov’s choice of the names for the two characters was not accidental: he borrowed them from the work by Alexander Alexandrovich Bestuzhev (also known as Marlinsky), where the characters were called Captain Strahl and Countess Zvezdich. In his play, Lermontov deliberately assigned names to the characters of the opposite gender.

Lermontov’s verse play in four acts with illustrations by Svetozar Aleksandrovich Ostrov was published by the Soviet Russia publishing house in 1989. The book with a leatherette binding was issued in the super octavo size and had a dust jacket.

The artist depicted Baroness Strahl in a splendid dress with her hair arranged high in curls, as in one of his other works, and embellished Prince Zvezdich’s shoulders with epaulets.

At the very beginning of the first act of the drama “Masquerade”, there is a conversation between the second player and the prince. These lines hint at the nature of insignia on Zvezdich’s clothes and prove that they are in this etching for a reason.

The epaulets are mentioned for the second time only in the third scene of the third act. This happens during the conversation between Baroness Strahl and Prince Zvezdich, which is what is most likely depicted in the etching on display.

For this illustration called “Prince Zvezdich and Baroness Strahl”, Svetozar Ostrov chose a vertical composition. The characters are depicted from behind close to the bottom edge so that it seems they are about to go beyond the pictorial space. The left hand of Prince Zvezdich is bent at the elbow, while the right one slightly touches the baroness’ shoulder.