‘Kazan’ was painted by Alexey Bogolyubov in 1862. The artist depicted the city of Kazan from the side of the Kazanka river — the left tributary of the Volga. Bogolyubov paid great attention to such details as the city walls with steeples and towers, the wooden domed church, and the wet pier boards. Closer to the center of the canvas, the viewers can see one of the architectural symbols of the city — a memorial church dedicated to the soldiers fallen during the Siege of Kazan on October 2, 1552.

The city is pictured as a big trading hub — the harbor is filled with ships. Apparently, Bogolyubov depicted the annual Kazan fair, which usually took place from May to June, when snow melting caused the Volga to break its banks: during that period, the ships loaded with goods could easily approach the city.

There is an entry about ‘Kazan’ in the ‘Notes of a Sailor-Artist’ — Alexey Bogolyubov’s memoirs. In them, he vividly described various stories about how he created his paintings. The artist wrote that once he and his brother were offered to sail on board a ship along the Volga from Tver to Astrakhan. On this journey, they needed to compile a guide: Bogolyubov’s brother took it upon himself to write the descriptions, and Bogolyubov — to make the illustrations. He wrote: 

Bogolyubov liked the trip immensely. He recalled that he and his brother even ‘sang “Down Along the Mother Volga”, as the trip was interesting.’ The artist was truly amazed that, having already seen other countries during his sea travels, he was going through life ‘without knowing much of the homeland.’

Eventually, ‘Kazan’ was bought by the Tsesarevich Alexander Alexandrovich — the future Tsar Alexander III. He valued Bogolyubov’s paintings highly and had more than 50 of them in his personal collection.

Alexey Bogolyubov is mainly known for his paintings of sea battles, as well as views of sea and river ports with moored ships. In his youth, he planned to join the navy, but while studying at the naval cadet corps, he got extremely interested in painting. As a result, he combined both and became the painter for the Russian Navy Main Staff.