Viktor Vasnetsov was one of the first artists to turn to epic and fairytale stories in Russian art of the second half of the 19th–early 20th centuries. By the 1880s, he had established himself as a genre painter and realist and came up with an entirely new goal—the artist decided to create a whole new art style, based on national traditions.

In his famous paintings ‘After The Battle Between Prince Igor Svyatoslavich of Kiev and The Polovtsy’, ‘Three Tsarevnas of the Underground Kingdom’, ‘Alyonushka’, ‘Ivan Tsarevich Riding the Grey Wolf’, ‘Bogatyrs’ Vasnetsov as ‘the true hero of Russian painting’ revives the beauty of Ancient Russia, immersed in legends, epic poems, songs, fairy tales, architecture. He creates vivid epic and fairytale images, filled with the feeling characteristic of the Ancient Russian mindset.

VasnetsOv’s painting “Reflection” was in a private collection for a long time and became widely known only in 1948 after the anniversary exhibition of the artist’s works. The painting has another title ‘The knight on the horse riding into the dense forest.’ It lacks decorative color effects and is deeply dramatic. At the same time the plot is extremely simple. The knight is depicted in a gloomy spruce forest that surrounds him like a dark wall. The knight is immersed in heavy thoughts. He is unarmed. He has no spear, no sword, and his quiver is empty.

We can assume that this work represents the reflection and experience of the artist himself. The painting was created in the 1870s-1880s, a difficult period in Vasnetsov’s life. In search of a new creative path, he had a falling out with his comrades and lost every source of income.

The landscape motif of the dusky forest determines the mysterious and disturbing atmosphere of the picture. Vasnetsov’s landscape painting talent gives his epic works a sense of Russian national spirit and deep lyricism.