The small chest “The Tale of Igor”s Campaign” is one of the masterpieces, housed in the collection of the All-Russian Decorative Art Museum, created by Boris Kiselyov. Kiselyov is an Honored Artist of Russia and renowned master of miniature painting. He received a nickname — “Kholuy Lefty” — after the protagonist of Nikolai Leskov’s ‘The Tale of Cross-eyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea’. It tells a story of how a left-handed arms craftsman, who was able to create the most miniscule pieces of art, provided horseshoes for a tiny steel flea his English colleagues had made.

Boris Kiselyov painted all nine sides of the chest with amazing accuracy. He captured the most important scenes from ‘The Tale of Igor”s Campaign’: the eclipse, which betokened disaster in Igor’s military campaign against the Polovtsians, Yaroslavna’s plea to natural forces for her husband’s safety, the battles, Igor’s capture and escape from captivity. The master was able to convey the depth of the imagery of each scene on very small surfaces.

According to art critic Larisa Solovyova, Boris Kiselyov’s historical works can be called “monumental lyric poetry”. His main characters, which are not devoid of lyrical features, mainly participate in epic, grandiose events, and the use of smaller surfaces does not detract from the scale of the historic action.

The Old Russian epic poem “The Tale of Igor”s Campaign” is not about victory, but about defeat. According to the plot, Prince Igor of Novgorod-Seversk led his troops into battle, despite the omens promising death. The first and most important sign of trouble was the eclipse of the Sun. It is described in the text: “Then Igor glanced up at the bright sun and saw that from it with darkness his warriors were covered”.

In addition to the eclipse, animals and birds tried to warn them: they made as much noise as they could. Thunder and rain also signaled trouble. Despite all this, Igor entered into an unequal battle.

The persistent interest of Russian miniaturists in the “Tale” is not accidental. It was dictated by the inexhaustible desire to understand their history and modern Russia. Deep thoughts about our time and the emotional intensity of the eternal search for truth were reflected in the miniatures. Many masters-miniaturists turned to this historical tale, and Palekh artist Ivan Golikov even prepared about 100 sketches-illustrations for the anniversary edition of the “Tale” in 1934.