The significant milestones in the life of Pyotr Bendel were related to his talent as an artist. During the Great Patriotic War, he served as a war photographer. Despite being taken prisoner, he was not executed because he painted portraits of German officers.

In 1945, Pyotr Bendel was exiled to Vorkuta where he survived by making portraits of exiles and guards on scraps of paper and getting bread in exchange for his work. Thanks to a petition from a former prisoner who served as the director of the Vorkuta Drama Theater, Pyotr Bendel was released early and worked as chief scenic designer.

During his years in the Vorkuta Labor Camp, Pyotr Bendel created many vivid portraits of his contemporaries, including musicians, film directors, actors, scientists, workers, and peasants of the Komi Republic. In the summer of 1954, the artist was sent on a work assignment to the collective farms of Izhma and Ust-Tsilma Districts “to paint portraits of their best workers.” Instead of stiff formal portraits, the artist painted skillful watercolors, conveying not only the appearance of the residents of old villages but also the mysterious spirit of the Old Believers.

“Young Woman Wearing a Bridal Outfit” is one of the iconic portraits created by Bendel in the village of Garevo on the high bank of the Pechora River. Legend has it that the village was founded in 1729 by the Khozyainovs who came from the Izhemskaya settlement. The young woman depicted in this portrait is Praskovya Durkina, née Khozyainova.

Praskovya was 18 years old when she sat for this portrait. According to her relatives, Pyotr Bendel wandered around the village for a long time in search of a model and eventually chose Praskovya. She was a girl of extraordinary beauty, with bright blue eyes and a charming smile. The artist painted her from life, outside the two-story house which still stands on the high bank of the Pechora.

With the precision of an ethnographer, Pyotr Bendel depicted the girl’s colorful clothes — the traditional Ust-Tsilma bridal outfit. This attire differed from the clothes of a married woman by having a short sleeveless jacket and a povoynik headdress tied in a particular manner known as “a golden half”.

The bridal outfit was made of expensive fabrics such as damask, taffeta, and brocade. It was decorated with gold braiding, lace, and hand embroidery. Such precious clothes were passed down to future generations and formed part of the dowry. Brides still wear such outfits on the first day of their wedding in Ust-Tsilma.