This painting by Vasily Ignatov is dedicated to one of the greatest mysteries of Finno-Ugric mythology — the Golden Woman. This idol was worshiped by the peoples of Northeastern Europe and Northwestern Siberia and mentioned in Scandinavian and Baltic folktales.

No one has actually seen the golden idol, but it has been mentioned since the 13th century. In Russian texts, the idol first appeared in 1398 in connection with the territory of the Komi region. It was featured in a Sofia Chronicle record about the death of Bishop Stephen of Perm. He converted to Christianity the pagans who had worshiped “…idols, fire, water, stone, the Golden Woman, the Magi, and trees”.

In the Komi language, the Golden Woman is known as Zarni An. Vasily Ignatov depicted her as the archetypal woman with a child on her lap. She is surrounded by the solar disk, the “mother sun” whose golden light brought the deity into this world. The sacral meaning of Zarni An is emphasized by the images of two pagan temples with idols behind her and people greeting her by lifting their arms.

There is also another version of Ignatov’s painting of Zarni An. It is kept in the museum of a comprehensive secondary school in the Ust-Usa village, the Komi Republic, where the artist had studied before entering the Moscow Regional Art College. Vasily Ignatov worked at the Soyuzmultfilm animation studio and was the animator of such cartoons as “Mowgli”, “The Ugly Duckling”, “The Golden Cockerel”, and “Stolen Moon”.

Zarni An symbolizes feminine energy that forms the basis of human existence and has preserved the natural way of life since primeval times. The legend of the Golden Woman formulates the principles of human society, its basic values, and the importance of heritage. The images of Zarni An reveal the artist’s attitude to the past, the path to self-knowledge, the universe, and the patterns and principles of the world order.

Zarni An has been portrayed by numerous artists from all around the world, but there is no unified idea of what she looks like. She can be depicted as a beautiful young woman, a hunchbacked old hag wearing rags, or a pregnant mother with two children visible in her womb — a son and a grandson.