The exhibition features an early piece of Russian painter Ilya Repin – etude titled Christ. This etude was created for competitive painting Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus kept in the collection of the State Russian Museum.
Repin felt very keenly about religious subjects: still in his youth days, the artist created images for iconostases and was engaged in church wall painting in his native town of Chuguyev near Kharkov. In the iconography artel, senior masters distinguished his gift among other artel members.
In the Academy of Arts where Repin received his education, Bible stories were included in the curriculum. Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus was a competitive work on an Evangelic subject for which the artist got a gold medal and the right to a pension trip abroad.
This canvas became Repin’s first major work with the subject based on a Biblical story. Jairus was the ruler of a synagogue; he came to Jesus and fell down at his feet: his only daughter was dying and he pleaded to heal her. His plea for aid was interrupted by terrible news: “…your daughter is dead, do not inconvenience the Teacher”. But Jesus came into Jairus’ house and raised the child mourned over by her parents.
Repin created etudes for this painting, both graphical and in oil. At the time of working on the competitive program, Repin simultaneously painted large canvas Barge Haulers on the Volga, and the subject offered to compete for the gold medal did not inspire him. He was so much carried away with the Burlaks subject that he even wanted to withdraw from competitive work. But when there was hardly any time left, he suddenly realized how he would paint the picture. The artist had a special gift, he could work simultaneously on several different canvases.
The image of Christ emerged in Repin’s mind almost immediately, his figure became the main on the painting. Jesus’ face is calm, he is ready to work the miracle of resurrection. The rhythm of the vertical folds of his flowing garments emphasizes the calm majesty of the image, with the drapes masterfully painted by the artist. The etude partially establishes the painting future composition: the height of the bed where Christ put his hand is calculated, the source of lighting is found. The classical combination of colors of the blue himation and the red chiton is also determined. The practically completed majestic image of Christ creates a feeling of a special significance of what is going on. It is commonly believed that the Jesus image prototype was Alexander Ivanov’s Christ represented on Ivanov’s famous painting The Appearance of Christ Before the People.
Repin felt very keenly about religious subjects: still in his youth days, the artist created images for iconostases and was engaged in church wall painting in his native town of Chuguyev near Kharkov. In the iconography artel, senior masters distinguished his gift among other artel members.
In the Academy of Arts where Repin received his education, Bible stories were included in the curriculum. Resurrection of the Daughter of Jairus was a competitive work on an Evangelic subject for which the artist got a gold medal and the right to a pension trip abroad.
This canvas became Repin’s first major work with the subject based on a Biblical story. Jairus was the ruler of a synagogue; he came to Jesus and fell down at his feet: his only daughter was dying and he pleaded to heal her. His plea for aid was interrupted by terrible news: “…your daughter is dead, do not inconvenience the Teacher”. But Jesus came into Jairus’ house and raised the child mourned over by her parents.
Repin created etudes for this painting, both graphical and in oil. At the time of working on the competitive program, Repin simultaneously painted large canvas Barge Haulers on the Volga, and the subject offered to compete for the gold medal did not inspire him. He was so much carried away with the Burlaks subject that he even wanted to withdraw from competitive work. But when there was hardly any time left, he suddenly realized how he would paint the picture. The artist had a special gift, he could work simultaneously on several different canvases.
The image of Christ emerged in Repin’s mind almost immediately, his figure became the main on the painting. Jesus’ face is calm, he is ready to work the miracle of resurrection. The rhythm of the vertical folds of his flowing garments emphasizes the calm majesty of the image, with the drapes masterfully painted by the artist. The etude partially establishes the painting future composition: the height of the bed where Christ put his hand is calculated, the source of lighting is found. The classical combination of colors of the blue himation and the red chiton is also determined. The practically completed majestic image of Christ creates a feeling of a special significance of what is going on. It is commonly believed that the Jesus image prototype was Alexander Ivanov’s Christ represented on Ivanov’s famous painting The Appearance of Christ Before the People.
