Description of the painting by Mikhail Vrubel “The Swan Princess”

Description of the painting by Mikhail Vrubel The Swan Princess

This picture is currently posted in the Tretyakov Gallery. For its writing was used the stage image of the heroine of the opera Rimsky-Korsakov “The Tale of Tsar Saltan” set for the plot of the Pushkin fairy tale with the same name. Vrubel made sketches for scenery and costumes for the 1900 opera premiere, and the artist’s wife sang the part of the Swan Princess. According to the researchers, the brightest “theatrical” creation of Vrubel is the costumes and scenery for the production of the opera The Tale of Tsar Saltan by Rimsky-Korsakov, the premiere of the fairy tale was held in 1900 on the stage of the Private Opera. This helped the artist to become more famous.

Under the impression of the opera, he begins to paint the picture “The Swan Princess”, which was the stage portrait of Nadezhda Zabela-Vrubel. But the canvas depicts not the singer herself, but the mysterious image of the Princess,

who was inspired by her lyrical and soulful singing. As contemporaries recall, both the voice and the appearance of the singer fit into those fabulous and fantastic images that she had to embody on stage: her voice could not be compared with anything, it was even, light, tender and filled with colors or alternating modulations because of the colors, he was very expressive, and at the same time calm.. And her appearance forced only to admire! Her wide-set eyes, captivating and at the same time naive smile, subtle and elegant body.

The picture was painted by an artist on Ge farm near Plysky station in Chernigov province in the summer of 1900. Vrubel portrayed his wife against the background of the scenery he created for The Tale of Tsar Saltan, in a costume that he himself composed for the performance. But the scenic image in the picture has become fabulous. In the moment, when the swan reincarnated into a gentle and mysterious beauty-princess time seemed to freeze, and the sunset light transformed reality, and it became unsteady and significant.

And the big eyes of the Tsarevna-Swan sparkle like gems of a kokoshnik, the abundance and gravity of which makes its fragile image more expressive. Vrubel had a rare gift to see color music. As his wife used to say, mother-of-pearl shades, the color of which was used in The Swan Princess and other paintings of the artist, Vrubel could find a topic in the music of Rimsky-Korsakov. Vrubel had a rare gift to see color music. As his wife used to say, mother-of-pearl shades, the color of which was used in The Swan Princess and other paintings of the artist, Vrubel could find a topic in the music of Rimsky-Korsakov. Vrubel had a rare gift to see color music. As his wife used to say, mother-of-pearl shades, the color of which was used in The Swan Princess and other paintings of the artist, Vrubel could find a topic in the music of Rimsky-Korsakov.


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Description of the painting by Mikhail Vrubel “The Swan Princess”