Comparative essay on the paintings of Gerasimov and Baulin “The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl”


The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl was built in 1165. Historical sources link its erection with the campaign of the Vladimir regiments to the Volga Bulgaria in 1164. In this campaign, the young prince Izyaslav was killed. In memory of these events, his father Andrei Bogolyubsky laid the Intercession Cathedral.

This story is devoted to two famous paintings – SI Gerasimov’s “Church of the Intercession on the Nerl” and SA Baulin “The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl”. In the picture of Gerasimov the church is in the center of the image, but it is not the central subject of the picture, but appears as part of a large landscape stretched horizontally. We see that the place on which the church stands is washed by the Nerl River.

The dome is slightly flattened, in contrast to its image in the picture of Baulin. Around the church trees grow, we see a magnificent nature, painted in green, blue and yellow colors. Half of the landscape is a beautiful blue sky. Having looked at this picture, we feel a thin, transparent air, a light whiff of the wind, a quiet rustle of leaves. We would like to visit this place and admire nature.

In the picture of Baulin we see a temple surrounded by nature. It is a three-tiered one (it can be identified by arched windows), decorated with a skillfully made stucco molding. The temple is depicted against a background of clear sky and sunset. The artist uses pale colors – white, blue, gray, pale green. This landscape gives us the feeling that autumn has come, cold and gloomy. In general, the picture conveys a feeling of sadness and loneliness.

I liked both pictures very much. They remind us of the great events of our history and appear as an integral part of the great Russian culture.


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Comparative essay on the paintings of Gerasimov and Baulin “The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl”