The History of the Creation of the Painting 'Boyarinya Morozova' by Vasily Surikov
"Once I saw a crow on the snow. The crow is sitting on the snow, and it has one wing outstretched. It sits on the snow as a black spot. I couldn't forget that spot for many years. Then I painted 'Boyarinya Morozova,'" recalled Vasily Surikov about the inception of the painting. The creation of "Morning of the Streltsy Execution," the masterpiece that made him famous, was inspired by intriguing reflections on a white shirt illuminated by the flame of a lit candle in daylight. The artist, whose childhood was spent in Siberia, similarly recalled the executioner who carried out public executions in the city square of Krasnoyarsk: "A black scaffold, a red shirt — beauty!"
Surikov's painting depicts the events of November 16, 1671, when Feodosiya was taken from Moscow to confinement. An unknown contemporary of the heroine in the "Tale of Boyar Morozova" recounts: "And she was taken past Chudov (the monastery in the Kremlin where she was previously escorted for questioning. — Author's note) under the royal passages. Extending her right hand... and clearly depicting the arrangement of the fingers, raising them high like a cross, she often guarded herself, and her headgear also often jingled."
1. Feodosiya Morozova. "Your fingers are delicate... your eyes are lightning-like," said Morozova's spiritual mentor, Protopop Avvakum. Surikov initially painted a crowd and then began searching for a suitable prototype for the main character. The artist attempted to paint Morozova using his aunt Avdotya Vasilievna Torgoshina, who was interested in Old Believer practices. However, her face got lost in the colorful crowd. The search continued until a certain Anastasia Mikhailovna arrived from the Urals to the Old Believers. "In the garden, in two hours," according to Surikov, he painted a study of her: "And when I inserted her into the painting, she conquered everyone."
The Boyar's wife, who had been riding in luxurious carriages, is now transported in peasant sleds until people witness her humiliation. Morozova's figure—a black triangle—doesn't get lost against the backdrop of the diverse human crowd surrounding her. It seems to divide this crowd into two unequal parts: the agitated and sympathetic on the right, and the indifferent and mocking on the left.
2. Two-fingered sign of the cross. Old Believers made the sign of the cross with two fingers while Nikon imposed the Catholic three-fingered sign, which, by that time, had been adopted into the church practice in Greece and other Christian countries that had formed an alliance with the Roman throne for political support. Crossing oneself with two fingers was a tradition in Russia since ancient times, dating back to apostolic times. According to tradition, Christ Himself blessed in this manner, and all ancient icons and other depictions bear witness to the two-fingered sign, while the three-fingered sign cannot be found in any source before the schismatic era of the 17th century. The two fingers (index and middle) symbolize the unity of the dual nature of Jesus Christ—divine and human—while the bent and connected three remaining fingers symbolize the Holy Trinity.
3. Snow. It is interesting to the painter because it changes and enriches the color scheme of the objects on it. "Painting on snow—everything turns out differently," said Surikov. "Look, they paint on snow with silhouettes. But everything on the snow is impregnated with light. Everything is in lilac and pink reflections, look at the Boyar's wife's clothing—black and the shirt in the crowd..."
4. Wood sledges. "What beauty there is in the wood sledges: in the grooves, in the bends, in the snow diverters," exclaimed the painter. "And in the curves of the runners, how they sway and gleam, like forged... Russian wood sledges must be celebrated!.." In the alley near Surikov's Moscow apartment, snowdrifts often formed, and peasant sleds would frequently travel there. The artist followed the wood sledges, sketching the furrows they left in the fresh snow. Surikov spent a long time finding the right distance between the sleds and the edge of the painting, which would give them dynamics and make them "go."
5. Boyarina's attire. In late 1670, Morozova secretly took monastic vows under the name Feodora, and therefore, she wears austere, albeit expensive, black clothing.
6. Lestovka (on the boyarina's wrist and on the wanderer to the right). Leather Old Believer prayer beads in the form of a ladder—a symbol of spiritual ascent, hence the name. Moreover, the lestovka is closed in a ring, signifying continuous prayer. Every Old Believer Christian should have their own lestovka for prayer.
7. The laughing priest. When creating characters, the painter chose the most vivid types from the people. The prototype for this priest was the deacon Varsonofiy Zakourtsev. Surikov recalled how, at the age of eight, he had to manage the horses all night on a dangerous road because the deacon, his fellow traveler, had, as usual, gotten drunk.
8. The Church. Painted from the Church of St. Nikola the Wonderworker in Novaya Sloboda on Dolgorukovskaya Street in Moscow, not far from Surikov's home. The stone church was built in 1703. The building has survived to this day but is in need of restoration. The outlines of the church in the painting are vague; the artist did not want it to be recognizable. Judging by the initial sketches, Surikov initially intended, in accordance with historical sources, to depict the Kremlin in the background, but later decided to shift the scene to a generalized Moscow street of the 17th century and focus on the diverse crowd of townspeople.
9. Princess Evdokia Urusova. The native sister of Morozova, who, under her benevolent influence, joined the zealots of Old Belief and shared the martyr's crown with Feodosiya in Borovsky Ostrog.
10. The Old Woman and the Young Girls. Suvorikov found these character types in the Old Believer community at the Transfiguration Cemetery. He was well-known there, and the women were willing to pose for him. "They liked that I was a Cossack and didn't smoke," the artist would recall.
11. The Wrapped Scarf. A chance discovery by the artist during the sketching stage. The upturned edge indicates that the young noblewoman has just bowed low to the condemned woman, almost to the ground, as a sign of profound respect.
12. The Nun. Surikov painted her based on his friend, the daughter of a Moscow priest who was preparing to take the veil.
13. Staff. Surikov saw one in the hands of an elderly pilgrim walking along the road to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. "I grabbed my watercolor and ran after her," the artist recalled. "But she had already walked away. I shouted to her, 'Grandma! Grandma! Give me the staff!' And she threw the staff, thinking I was a robber."
14. Wanderer. Similar figures of wandering ascetics with staffs and knapsacks were encountered in the late 19th century. This wanderer is an ideological ally of Morozova: he took off his hat, bidding farewell to the condemned woman; he has the same Old Believer prayer beads as she does. Among the sketches for this character, there are self-portraits: when the artist decided to change the turn of the head of the character, the pilgrim who originally posed for him was no longer to be found.
15. Holy Fool in Chains. Sympathizing with Morozova, he blesses her with the same Old Believer double-fingered sign and is unafraid of punishment: fools-for-Christ were not touched in Russia. The artist found a suitable model for him at the market. A peasant selling cucumbers agreed to pose in a linen shirt on the snow, and the painter rubbed his frozen legs with vodka. "I gave him three rubles," Suriyov recounted. "For him, it was a lot of money. And as his first daring act, he hired a coachman for a ruble and seventy-five kopecks. That's the kind of person he was."
16. The Icon "Mother of God of Tenderness." Overlooking the crowd, Feodosiya Morozova gazes at this icon. The noblewoman, defiant to the Nikonian impiety, intends to be accountable only before Heaven.
Vasily Surikov first heard about the "rebellious" lady from his godmother, Olga Durandina, during his childhood. In the 17th century, when Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich supported the reform in the Russian Church led by Patriarch Nikon, Feodosiya Morozova, one of the most noble and influential women at the court, opposed the innovations. Her open disobedience angered the monarch, and eventually, the noblewoman was confined to an underground prison in Borovsk near Kaluga, where she died of exhaustion.
The confrontation of the angular black spot against the background is as captivating for the artist as the conflict between a strong personality and monarchical power. Capturing the play of color reflections on clothing and faces is no less important for the artist than depicting the spectrum of emotions in the crowd bidding farewell to the condemned. For Surikov, these creative challenges did not exist separately. "Abstraction and convention are the scourges of art," he claimed.