Speakasso › Paintings › Bogatyrs
Bogatyrs
Viktor Vasnetsov, 1898
Vasnetsov worked on this canvas for nearly twenty years, from a first sketch in 1871 to the final stroke in 1898. Three heroes of Russian epic song stand watch on the frontier: Ilya Muromets in the centre shades his eyes and peers into the distance, Dobrynya Nikitich on the left half-draws his sword, and young Alyosha Popovich on the right holds a bow, a gusli slung behind his saddle. The low horizon turns the riders into giants, and the brooding sky hints that an enemy is near. Tretyakov bought the picture the moment it was finished.
What is in the painting
- Three riders. Three armoured horsemen line up side by side, facing the viewer.
- Hand to brow. The central figure shades his eyes and scans the horizon.
- Low sky. Heavy clouds over a steppe dotted with young fir trees.
Did you know? One of the models for Ilya Muromets was a Moscow cart-driver named Ivan Petrov, and the horses were painted from heavy draught horses in Savva Mamontov's stables.
About the painting
- Artist
- Viktor Vasnetsov (1848–1926)
- Year
- 1898
- Style
- Russian Romanticism, Neo-Russian style
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Size
- 295.3 × 446 cm
- Where to see it
- Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
How to describe it in Speakasso
In Speakasso you describe the painting in your own words and an AI draws it again. These words are forbidden in this round — each one costs 15 points:
A description that scores high
Three bearded warriors in chain mail and pointed helmets sit on massive steeds side by side, facing us, on a wide grassy steppe. The one in the center, on a huge black mount, shades his eyes with his palm and scans the horizon. The left one, on a white mount, half-draws a sword; the young one on the right holds a bow. Heavy grey clouds, low horizon, small fir trees. Epic, realistic oil painting.
The tricky part: Call them three armored warriors on massive steeds, and say the middle one shades his eyes with his palm.
The method behind it: what is painted first, then where things are, then colour and light, then the style. Read the full guide
More by Viktor Vasnetsov in the game
