Contemporaries called Makovsky just as “brilliant Kostya,” and Emperor Alexander II considered him “his” artist and trusted him to paint portraits of the royal couple. Pictures of Konstantin Makovsky never went unnoticed. It happened with his work “Mermaids”, which at one time made a lot of noise. Critics V. Stasov and V. Garshin gave a sharply negative assessment of the canvas for an overly “dramatic plastic of naked female bodies using salon-academic techniques.” The picture was discussed so vigorously that even Alexander II himself, fairly calm about the visual arts, for the first time personally visited the Mobile Exhibition. Creative artist, he was pleased.
The pagan holiday of Rusalia, celebrated in the “mermaid week” from 19 to 24 June, served as a plot for the Makovsky picture. Mermaids were considered a dark, unclean force. But at the same time, fearing a meeting with them at the usual time, on the holiday week, the people themselves called them to prevent drought – after all, the element and place of residence of the mermaids was water. One of these days, when beautiful mermaids are having fun and walking, and is depicted on canvas.
The artist depicted the water maidens in full accordance with the ideas of Eastern Slavic mythology. By tradition, the mermaids were considered as mystical, mysterious characters, and very real people, by the will of fate turned into mermaids. It could be girls who died before marriage, unbaptized babies, those who died or were stolen from their mother, people who died in a mercenary week. Externally, the characters of Slavic mythology differ from the usual image of a mermaid.
Slavic water maidens can not be distinguished from the average person – they do not have a fish tail. Mermaids have luxurious long hair, which they never braid into braids, but are worn over their shoulders. Nudity, for a realistic, detailed image which is so criticized by the artist, also corresponds to the traditional ideas about mermaids. Most often they were depicted just naked, covered only with green foliage. In their songs, mermaids often asked for shirts, and according to popular belief, they could steal yarn, canvas and scarves. Mermaids favorite activity is to frolic in the water and swing on the branches of the trees. Employed favorite pastime and wrote their mythical heroines Makovsky.
The picture is filled with a halo of mysticism and mystery. The mythology of the characters is supported by the background of the picture – the painterly-chosen palette of colors paints a fascinating dark night in which young mermaids, enveloped in a misty haze, go away to the sky, captivating with their dancing and beckoning a casual witness of their fun.
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