1903
oil on canvas
71,2 х 116

The picture reflects the image of Russian land in the grip of religious fervour. The artist integrates the pivotal elements of native nature, filling them with symbolic meaning. All here - the quiet sadness of the hour before the sunset, when nature and the soul contemplating it sink into an enrapt silence; the surface of the river with pink and gold streaks of sunset; a hilly shore with a church on top - are manifestations of Russia's spirituality. Nature is frozen, as if enchanted, before the last reflections of daylight. The boats in the middle of the river have stopped, with the fishing monks as if engrossed in their prayers. Their bent figures in the space flooded with silence seem like question marks before the face of eternity. The horizontal flow of the river is counterbalanced with upward movement along a vertical towards the church on the hill. The eye swivels in a criss-cross fashion in space. The landscape is imbued with a feeling of supreme harmony, with the souls of man and nature joined in marriage.

at 10, Lavrushinsky Lane, Hall 39