Christ in the Desert (Kramskoi)
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| Christ in the desert |
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| Ivan Kramskoi , 1872 |
| Oil on canvas |
| 180 × 210 cm |
| Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow |
Christ in the desert ( Russian Христос в пустыне , Christos w pustyne) is a painting by the Russian painter Ivan Kramskoi , in which the temptation of Jesus is depicted and in which the consequences of fasting are shown in particular . In 1873, Kramskoi received the offer of a professorship from the Council of the Russian Art Academy because of the picture . However, he rejected this because he had previously been expelled from the academy and had decided to maintain his "youthful attitude of independence from the academy". As a result, the picture developed into the favorite picture of Pavel Tretyakov , who bought it for his gallery in the year it was completed .
history
Kramskoi had already been interested in the subject of the temptation of Christ in the early 1860s. During this time he had made a first drawing of the composition. The first version of the picture was dated 1867 but received no attention. Kramskoi felt that a portrait format was inappropriate for the picture. He decided on the landscape format and invented the pale rocky desert in the background. He reported repeatedly about the picture in his letters to Vsevolod Michailowitsch Garschin .
description
Christ in the desert is one of Kramskoi's pictures with scenes from the life of Jesus. On this subject he created the pictures Rejoice, King of the Jews (Да здравствует Царь Иудеев !, Mt 27.28-30 EU ) and Herodias (Иродиада, Mt 14.3-9 EU ). Kramskoy mainly used cold colors , which reflect the cold of daybreak in the background. Christ lost in thought, wearing a dark cloak and a dark red tunic , is shifted slightly to the right from the center. Kramskoi wrote: “When asked: 'This is not Christ, how do you know that he looked like this?' I always allowed myself to answer: 'Even the truly living Christ has not yet been recognized.' ”Because the horizon divides the picture almost exactly into an upper and a lower half, the figure of Christ dominates the image section and at the same time harmonizes with the strict one Wilderness. The picture underlines the idea of a hypostatic union (between man and God) and represents a spiritual battle instead of an external movement.
Kramskoi sold the plant to Tretyakov for 6,000 rubles .
reception
The painting generated a lot of echo and was shown at the second Peredwischniki exhibition in 1873. Tretyakov wrote: “I was very fond of Kramskoi's 'Redeemer' ... so I pushed for it, although many people did not appreciate it very much and others did not like it at all. In my opinion this is the best painting in our school right now; perhaps I am wrong, however. ”The critic Vladimir Stasov wrote that“ a sad mood is sensitively echoed in the general physiological composition of the work ”. Vsevolod Garshin emphasized the "expression of immense moral strength, hatred of evil and the complete willingness to fight it". Ivan Goncharov , who wrote the treatise “Christ in the Desert. A painting by Mr. Kramskoi "(Russian:" Христос в пустыне. Картина г. Крамского ") wrote, formulates his impression that" the whole figure has shrunk from its natural size, contracted, not from hunger, thirst or bad weather , but from inward, inhuman insight into his (God's) thinking and his will in the course of the struggle between the forces of spirit and flesh ”. He emphasized that “there is nothing festive, heroic, victorious - only the future fate of the world and all life is included in the pitiful little creature, in poor appearance, under the rags, in modest simplicity, inseparable from real majesty and strength ". The most recent award comes from the Russian art historian Georgi Wagner . He wrote the article “About the interpretation of Kramskoi's portrait 'Christ in the Desert'” (Russian: “Об истолковании картины И.Н. Крамского‚ Христос в пустыне '”).
Individual evidence
- ↑ "youthful commitment to independence from the Academy" kramskoy.info в пустыне (1872) Крамской.
- ↑ Христос в пустыне (1872) Крамской kramskoy.info (Russian). Kramskoy.info. March 30, 2010.
- ↑ “ To the question 'this is not Christ, how do you know he looked like that?', I permitted myself to reply 'but even the actual, living Christ has not been recognized'. ”
- ↑ “ I liked Kramskoi's Savior very much ... that's why I was harrying up to purchase him, but many people did not appreciate him much and the others did not at all. In my opinion this is the best painting in our school recently; maybe I am mistaken. ” Http://www.nasledie-rus.ru/podshivka/7803.php ru: Татьяна Юденкова (Tatjana Judenkova), Наше Наследие: Неустанное служение . К истории коллекции П.М.Третьякова (On the history of the Tretyakov collection, Russian)
- ↑ "sorrowful note sensibly resounds in the general physological array of the work". nearyou.ru Крамской И. "Христос в пустыне" 2010-03-30 (Russian)
- ^ "Expression of immense moral force, hatred against evil and complete resoluteness to fight it". Немировская, М.А. Иван Николаевич Крамской. —Л .: Художник РСФСР, 1969, с. 25th
- ↑ "the entire figure seems to have diminished a bit from its natural size, contracted, not from starvation, thirst and bad weather, but from internal, inhuman insight to his thought and will during the struggle of forces of spirit and flesh".
- ↑ "there is nothing festive, heroic, victorious - the future fate of the world and of all livings is concealed in that miserable, small being, in pauper appearance, under the rags, in humble simplicity, inseparable with true majesty and force"