Viktor Borisov-Musatov was a Russian artist, a painter who glorified the beauty of the past, skillful at depicting “noble nests.” Borisov-Musatov is a vivid representative of Russian Art Nouveau and symbolism. The artist’s works are filled with sadness and longing for the past. The color palette of his paintings is muted, as if faded with time. This enhances the overall impression of fragility and ghostly beauty. The artist’s painting is so ephemeral that researchers often compare it to music or poetry.

In the summer of 1894, the artist first visited the ancient Sleptsovka estate in the Saratov province, where he painted several studies. Later, these studies made up the painting “Harmony, ” one of the first manor compositions of the artist. The summer of 1900 he spent in Sleptsovka again. This place became a source of inspiration for Borisov-Musatov.

The artist was looking for the composition of the painting for quite a long time. For the cavalier’s study, an old Saratov acquaintance in a doublet and wig posed for the artist. Surrendering to the beauty and melody of the images, the young Marquis recites poetry against the background of an overgrown garden. The lilac-bluish doublet and white wig of the elegant cavalier stand out against a deep blue-green background.

In the collection of the Voronezh Regional Art Museum named after Ivan Kramskoy, one can see the final version of the image of the girl from the painting “Harmony.” Creating his own world of the ideal past and developing a new theme with the obvious sound of the motif of drowsiness and semi-oblivion, Viktor Elpidiforovich came to symbolism as his own method of comprehending the world.