The painting from the collection of the State Museum of Fine Arts is a sketch by Viktor Vasnetsov to the picture ‘Mikula Selyaninovich’ that he intended to create, but never painted. Mikula Selyaninovich is a character from Russian epics, a plowman-warrior of exceptional strength. According to the legend, even the giant Svyatogor could not lift Mikula Selyaninovich’s bag. Mikula quite often became a character of paintings: the hero could be seen on a mural at the All-Russian Art and Industry Exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod in 1886, on a majolica fireplace by Mikhail Vrubel of 1900, on paintings by Vasily Polenov.
Vasnetsov more than once addressed subjects of the Russian epos. He painted such canvasses as “The Warriors”, “Alyonushka”, “Sirin and Alkonost”, “The Tsarevich Ivan on a Gray Wolf”, and others. The artist decided to paint a picture of Mikula Selyaninovich way back in 1920. Then he created a first sketch: an aquarelle, white pigment and pencil drawing. In the sketch he painted a meeting between the Warrior and another Russian epic hero, Volga Svyatoslavich. Volga was described in the epos as a werewolf who could speak the language of birds and animals.
Vasnetsov more than once addressed subjects of the Russian epos. He painted such canvasses as “The Warriors”, “Alyonushka”, “Sirin and Alkonost”, “The Tsarevich Ivan on a Gray Wolf”, and others. The artist decided to paint a picture of Mikula Selyaninovich way back in 1920. Then he created a first sketch: an aquarelle, white pigment and pencil drawing. In the sketch he painted a meeting between the Warrior and another Russian epic hero, Volga Svyatoslavich. Volga was described in the epos as a werewolf who could speak the language of birds and animals.
