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The first revolutionary in Russia, Razin became a folk hero, inspiring other rebellions, such as the famous uprising led by the Don Cossack Emelian Pugachev. His deeds were also remembered during the Bolshevik revolution of 1917.
The title of this piece comes from a song, which tells the following story. On one of his raids, Stenka captured a beautiful Persian Princess and fell in love with her. He was so infatuated that he neglected everything else and spent all of his time with her. It is this part of the story of Stepan Razin that Dmitriyev has chosen to depict on this large lacquer box. Razin is the central figure here with his arm around the waist of the princess, as his men pour wine, sing song, and toast their leader while the ornate boat travels down the river. But why are the men in the back of the boat whispering to each other? As time passed and Razin showed no inclination to do anything but dally with his Princess, his men became more and more dissatisfied and finally the grumbling in the ranks broke out into the open. His men told him that he was becoming soft and powerless and that unless he disposed of the Princess there would be a mutiny and he would be deposed as leader of the band. When he finally realized that his men would indeed leave him unless he gave up the Princess, he threw her overboard to her death in the river.
The hills and the water are painted in subdued shades of olive and sepia. The layout of the scene is incredible, with the forested land rising up in the background, and rocks and fish scattered in the rolling river. Dmitriyev has used great detail to create the stern faces of the Cossacks, as well as the backdrop of the Russian countryside. He has achieved a beautiful effect with the skyline--thick metallic gold paint and orange shading are used for the actual sky, which contrast against the boughs of pine trees jutting out into the air.
The intricate designs on the sides are incredible--the combination of gold and silver into an elaborate design creates a very elegant finish to the box. The lid is hinged from the top of the composition, and the box rests on four feet. Dmitriyev has signed, titled and dated the piece at the bottom of the composition. He has also re-written the title on the inside of the lid, underneath which he writes that this is an original design of the author, Sergey Dmitriyev, the word Kholui and the 2005 year.
The box made of paper-mache, in the painting were used black and red lacquer, egg-tempera paint, gold, aluminum.
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