Painting Vereshchagin “The sale of a child slave”


The Balkan cycle of paintings by VV Vereshchagin is dedicated to the Russian-Turkish war of 1878-1879. in which the artist was directly involved. One of the most famous paintings of the cycle – “Winners” – was written in 1878-1879.

The picture is devoted to the events that took place under Telish, where the whole regiment of Russian soldiers was destroyed through the fault of the commanders. The picture “Winners” – about the “inside of the war”, about the harsh truth, which is usually carefully hidden by those whose people are at fault.

On the canvas, we will not see noisy banners, trophies, solemn processions and swiftly flying squadrons. We will not find anything that talks about the “front” side of the war. Before us is only an open reality, the harsh truth of life. We see a field covered entirely with corpses of soldiers. Vereshchagin depicts an ugly “masquerade” – after the end of the

battle, the victorious Turks disguised themselves right on the battlefield in the uniforms of the dead Russian soldiers.

The skill of Vereshchagin, as an artist-batalist, in the film “Winners” is undeniable. Thanks to an accurate picture, clear composition and restrained colors, the artist achieves the ease and naturalness of the performance. In this painting Vereshchagin left from excessive attention to detail, which was observed in his early works.

The picture “Winners” presented the war with all its harsh truth. Painfully and bitterly speaking of the enormous human casualties, the artist throws a direct challenge to official propaganda. He loudly declares the fatal miscalculations of the command, for which the Russian soldiers had to pay too dearly.

In addition to describing the picture of V. V. Vereshchagin “Winners”, many other descriptions of paintings by various artists have been collected on our website. which can be used both in preparation for writing essays on the picture, and simply for a more complete familiarization with the works of famous masters of the past.


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Painting Vereshchagin “The sale of a child slave”