Mikhail Petrovich Tsybasov was a renowned painter, graphic artist, and movie set designer. He is also remembered as an illustrator of the “Kalevala”.

The Karelian and Finnish national epic poem, “Kalevala”, has rightfully become a part of the treasury of world literature. To date, the “Kalevala” has been fully translated into more than sixty languages, and there are over 150 different translations of its abbreviated versions and retellings. The first translation of the poem into Russian was made by the poet Leonid Petrovich Belsky in 1888. That edition was published without any illustrations.

The Finnish artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela is widely regarded as the first illustrator of the “Kalevala”. In Russia, the first illustrated edition of the poem was released in Leningrad in 1933. Thirteen artists, representatives of Pavel Filonov’s school of “analytical art, ” contributed to the design of this edition.

The illustration “Kullervo Wages War on Untamo” is based on the tragic events recounted in the “Kalevala”. It is a story of two families, who are involved in bloody wars with each other. Before Kullervo was born, all members of his family were killed by Untamo, except for his mother. Kullervo grows up with a desire for revenge.

In the drawing by Mikhail Tsybasov, Kullervo appears determined and angry. He holds a shepherd’s horn in one hand, as a symbol of his role as a slave in the household of Ilmarinen, who is a blacksmith. In the other hand, he holds a slingshot. A sword given to him by the god Ukko hangs from his belt. Kullervo sets out to confront Untamo, destroying all his relatives and setting their homes ablaze.

Lönnrot’s use of the image of Kullervo was not merely for the purpose of connecting the storylines. As a 19th-century man, aware of the social contradictions and conflicts that existed in the world, including in Finland, in his enormous epic poem he could not help but reflect on the problems of “outcasts” and the future of his society and its structure. In the episodes featuring Kullervo, the myth intersects with history. While the former involves human gods and their actions, the latter shows slaves and masters. The life of the epic heroes was clearly disrupted by the intrusion of social history, in the form of a rebellious slave who brought grief to both outsiders and his own people.