1907
Paper, graphite and coloured pencils, gouache
38 х 30

The portrait of symbolist poet Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Blok (1880–1921) was painted by the symbolist artist, who shared the aesthetic outlook of that artistic movement. Somov makes Blok's face resemble a sacral mask, which reveals the poet's mysterious inner world, his true appearance, as if emerged from eternity. The impression is boosted by the frontal point of view, the symmetrical and frozen traits. The poet is shown in a state of creative trance: his eyes are dimmed, his lips half-open. By removing himself from reality, he becomes prophetic in penetrating the innermost secrets of the creation. Contemporaries compared Blok's face with that of Apollo Musagete. The halo of curls framing his face brought to mind associations with a laurel wreath, an invariable attribute of the god of arts. The marble-like paleness of the face, emphasized with whitewash, is combined with disembodied transparency of shadows. A blank sheet of paper, used as the portrait's background, is seen as spiritual space, filled with even pre-eternal light. The discord between the soft chiaroscuro moulding of the face and barely indicated line of the shoulders highlights the tragic gap between the spirit's purposefulness and the flesh's incompleteness, typical of the Silver Age.