1846
oil on canvas
48,2 õ 42,5
Fedotov was the founder of urban genre paintings in the same way as A.G. Venetsianov became the founder of rural genre painting. But if the village was viewed as a “safe harbour for rest,” the city was seen as a “den of vice.” Accordingly the artist’s task was to ridicule vice.
The subject of the artist’s painting is revealed in his explanation, which closed with the words: “Where the match was composed foolishly, dirt has a good chance to celebrate.”
In the centre of the composition, an official stands in the pose of a Roman orator. He holds up his torn dressing gown as if it were a toga. The curlers in his hair are likened to a laurel wreath. Proud of himself, he points to his order. In counterpoint we see the pregnant cook (the “foolishly composed match”) who shows off a torn boot.
We behold a parody of a heroic scene in the spirit of Antiquity.
The objects surrounding the main actors are similarly treated – the broken chair, empty bottles, cockroach on the table. Details such as the sausage wrapped in the newspaper Police Gazette give the painting the aspect of a social criticique.
at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 15
