Description of the painting by Shibanov, the celebration of the wedding contract. First come first served basis

Shibanov is a mystery artist, because there are very few facts about him, including from his. Despite this, we can admire his works that are presented in art galleries. So, in the Tretyakov Gallery you can see one of his famous masterpieces called Celebration wedding contract. Let's paint pictures.

Shibanov painted his painting Celebration of the Wedding Contract in the eighteenth century, choosing the theme of serf life. This is what makes the painting surprising, because in 1777 it was not customary to paint the mob, but despite everything, the artist depicted one of the peasant rituals in his painting. In his painting, the artist decided to capture one of the most important events in the life of every young peasant couple - the wedding ceremony. The young people meet and discuss the upcoming celebration.

Description of the picture

Now let's make the Celebration of the Wedding Contract in our essay.

Looking at the canvas, it seems that we are also participants in this ancient custom. The viewer, like all the guests, also ends up in the hut, where the fates of young people are decided.

The central figure here is the bride. She is modest, but at the same time her proud posture is full of dignity and grace. The bride is dressed in a silver sundress, over which is thrown a shower jacket. By outerwear red flowers scattered. The head is covered with a long veil that falls to the floor. The process is exciting. The girl is worried, and in order to somehow support his beloved, the groom took her hand. He stands a little to the side. Dressed in a shirt with a greenish caftan thrown over it.

In the picture we also see matchmakers, both from the bride’s side and from the groom’s side. Some were located on the left, others on the right. On the left we see how a man carefully examines the bride, another is trying to say something. Apparently he invites those present to the table to seal the decision made with a glass.

On the right side of the picture is a man in a red caftan. He is discussing something with a girl sitting next to him. An elderly woman sits with them. Perhaps this is the mother of the bride. Next we see the villagers who came to the hut, because no one wants to miss this an important event. The guests also dressed festively, taking their best clothes, thereby emphasizing the solemnity of the event.

Shibanov acted as a bold innovator, paving the way for art in an area that had not yet been touched by anyone. The Russian peasant became the hero of a work of art for the first time precisely in the work of Shibanov. The best traditions of the peasant everyday genre, subsequently widely developed in Russian realistic painting of the 19th century, go back to the “Celebration of the Wedding Contract” and "Peasant Lunch".

Celebration of the Wedding Contract (1777)

The serf artist Mikhail Shibanov is one of the most original and at the same time mysterious figures in Russian art of the 18th century.
We know very little about the life of Russian artists of this time, even the most famous ones, but even less is known about Shibanov than about any of his contemporary masters. Archival documents provide almost no information about him, and memoirists do not deign the serf painter with even a cursory mention. Even the dates of his birth and death are unknown. We don’t know how his fate turned out, how he became an artist, where and with whom he studied. The number of his works that have survived to this day is too insufficient to clearly imagine the development of his work. If he had not signed his works, the very name of Shibanov would hardly have become known to posterity. Meanwhile, things that are outstanding in their artistic merit are associated with this name - several beautiful portraits and two paintings that belong to the best among what Russian art created in the 18th century.
From Shibanov’s biography we only know that his master was the famous Catherine’s nobleman Potemkin. Apparently, this circumstance facilitated the artist’s access to noble customers, among whom was the empress herself. Shibanov accompanied her on her trip to Novorossiya and painted her portrait in Kyiv in 1787. In the same year, a portrait of General A. Dmitriev-Mamonov was painted, one of the most beautiful works of portraiture of the 18th century, “a portrait worthy of European glory,” as later critics spoke of it.
The portrait of Catherine, painted by Shibanov, enjoyed great success back in the 18th century; by order of the empress, it was reproduced in engraving by J. Walker, and several miniature copies of it were made by the court miniaturist Zharkov. But Ekaterina showed deep disdain for Shibanov himself. The serf painter seemed to her unworthy of even a simple mention, and in a letter to Grimm she writes about this portrait as the work of Zharkov.
In his portrait works of 1787, Shibanov appears as a fully established and mature artist, occupying an independent place in the art of his time.
Significantly less masterful are the portraits painted by Shibanov earlier, back in the 1770s. Here he takes only the first steps towards mastering the art of portraiture, and one would think that these portraits date back to the period of his apprenticeship, if both of his wonderful paintings - “Peasant Dinner” (1774) and “Wedding Celebration” - were not dated to the same years. agreement" (1777). The high pictorial qualities of these paintings place them on a par with the most outstanding works of Russian art of the 18th century, and the thoughtfulness and originality of their design, keen observation, keen psychologism and perfect ability to cope with a complex multi-figure composition testify to the great artistic experience and creative maturity of the master.
The subject matter of these paintings is completely unusual for 18th-century painting: both of them depict everyday scenes from peasant life.
In the aesthetics of that time, the everyday genre was given the lowest, subordinate place. The depiction of modern reality was not recognized as a task worthy of an artist's brush. Folk images were, in essence, expelled from the sphere of official art. True, at the Academy of Arts in the 1770-1780s there was a so-called home exercise class, where they studied household painting. But scenes from the “rough” life of the common people, of course, were not allowed there either.
Shibanov was the first among Russian artists to turn to folk images and themes taken from peasant life.
What was done in this area before Shibanov is hardly worth mentioning. Russian peasants were depicted by visiting foreign artists - the Frenchman Leprince, who in 1758-1762 made a number of drawings (later repeated in engravings) on Russian household topics, and the Dane Eriksen, the author of a group peasant portrait. Leprince perceived Russian life as “oriental exoticism,” incomprehensible and implausible, and Eriksen’s naturalistic painting has neither educational nor artistic significance. Foreigners, not familiar with Russian life, could not, of course, lay the foundations of a strong tradition. If Shibanov knew their work, then, in any case, he had the right to ignore them.
His only predecessor was A. Losenko, who used the peasant type in the historical film “Vladimir and Rogneda”. The bearded warriors in helmets depicted by Losenko give the impression of Russian peasants painted from life. But, introducing folk images into his painting, the academic artist was forced to resort to “historical” motivation. And Shibanov, not bound by the norms of academic aesthetics, directly reproduced in his paintings living scenes of modern folk life.
“Peasant Lunch” is an attentive and accurate sketch from life, in which the characteristic types of peasants are truthfully and accurately conveyed. The artist strived here primarily for the living naturalness of the image.
The “celebration of the wedding contract” is much more complex and significant. Here we are no longer faced with a sketch from nature, but a finished painting with a well-found type, with a carefully thought-out multi-figure composition, a painting in which moral, descriptive and psychological problems are deliberately set and successfully solved.
On the reverse side of the painting there is an inscription by the author, explaining the plot chosen by Shibanov:
“A painting representing the Suzdal Provintsy peasants. celebration of the wedding contract, wrote in the same Provshtsy village of Tatars. 1777. Mikhail Shibanov."
We learn about the essence of this festival from ancient descriptions of Russian peasant life: “The agreement consists of exchanging tracks and small gifts. The groom comes to see the bride. This agreement is holy and inviolable.”
This solemn moment in the life of a peasant family is shown in Shibanov’s painting. The action takes place in a hut owned by the bride's parents. In the very center of the composition is the bride, dressed in a rich national outfit. She is wearing a linen shirt buttoned to the top, a white brocade sundress embroidered with flowers, and on top of it a gold brocade jacket with red embroidery. On the head is a girl's headdress consisting of a gold embroidered bandage and a veil. The neck is decorated with pearls, a necklace of large stones descends onto the chest, and earrings are in the ears. Next to the bride is the groom in a smart blue caftan, from under which a greenish half-caftan and a pink embroidered shirt are visible.
On the right, behind the bride, the invitees crowd. They are also richly dressed: women in sundresses and kokoshniks, men in long cloth zipuns. Shibanov showed great compositional skill, rhythmically arranging the figures of the festival participants and uniting them with a common movement. The group of guests is closed by the figure of a young man, with a broad gesture pointing to the bride and groom. Strict rhythmic construction in no way excludes either the living naturalness of poses or their diversity.
On the left side of the picture is a table covered with a white tablecloth and laden with all kinds of food. At the table are four peasants, apparently the bride's father and her older brothers. One of them stood up and addressed the bride and groom. The figure of this peasant, slightly tilted, with his hand extended forward, is necessary for the artist in order to connect the two disconnected groups of characters.
The light in the painting clearly highlights the central group (the bride and groom) and gradually dissipates in the right half of the composition; the entire left side of it is shaded, and only faint reflections flicker on their faces. With this technique, the artist ensured that the audience’s attention was focused on the main characters.
The fabrics of the clothes are painted with confident and impeccable skill. Their color and texture are conveyed with such precision that even the type of material can be recognized. The ethnographic fidelity of the festive peasant costumes of the Suzdal province, that is, the Moscow region, is confirmed by samples that have survived to this day. But for Shibanov, not only the accuracy, but also the artistry of the image was important. The color variety of clothes in the painting is brought to a subtle color scheme, to decorative unity, which well conveys the feeling of festivity and solemnity of the ritual being performed.
The emphasized attention to the external, decorative side of the scene, dictated by an impeccable knowledge of peasant life, did not at all distract Shibanov from the main artistic task - the creation of truthful and life-like images.
Shibanov's realistic mastery is inspired by a deep and genuine love for the people. The artist admires his heroes, revealing in them the typical features of the Russian character - courage and spiritual nobility, self-esteem, a bright, optimistic outlook on life. Shibanov's characteristics are expressive and apt. Particularly attractive is the image of the groom, a young peasant guy looking lovingly at the bride. There is nothing flashy or defiant in his courageous beauty; his whole appearance is marked by soulful seriousness and majestic calm.
The central psychological theme of the picture—the emotional experiences of the bride—is revealed with great subtlety. Her face is pale, her pose seems constrained and not entirely natural; but behind this external compulsion one feels deep internal tension, barely restrained excitement, quite understandable in a peasant girl entering a new life.
The images of old age created by Shibanov are covered with genuine poetry. The majestic head of a gray-haired peasant, the father of the bride, was painted with great artistic power. The image of the old peasant woman on the right side of the composition is noteworthy for its expressiveness and truth of life. This is undoubtedly one of the most profound and at the same time democratic images in Russian art of the 18th century. The talent of a portrait painter and psychologist, revealed with such force in Shibanov’s later work, is clearly evident here.
But, along with the features of sharp and heartfelt realism, “The Celebration of the Wedding Contract” undoubtedly also contains features of the idealization of peasant life. They find their embodiment in the decorative structure of the composition itself, in emphasizing the elements of solemnity and festivity that permeate Shibanov’s entire painting.
The contentment and even prosperity of the family he depicts is by no means typical for a Russian village in the 18th century. We know that the situation of the serf peasantry in Catherine's time was truly terrifying. The life of a peasant passed in poverty, under conditions of monstrous oppression, and Shibanov, a serf himself, could know about this better than anyone else. Meanwhile, Shibanov’s painting can create completely different, erroneous ideas about the living conditions of the social environment he depicts.
How could this happen? Why did the realist artist, depicting peasant life, not note the most important, defining thing in it?
Some researchers have suggested that Shibanov’s painting depicts not serfs, but so-called state peasants, of whom there were quite a lot in the vicinity of Suzdal. Their life was, of course, somewhat easier compared to the miserable existence of serfs. But, I think, the answer to this must be sought in the real historical conditions of Russian reality in the 18th century.
Shibanov's painting was painted just three years after the tragic end of the formidable peasant war led by Pugachev. The ferocious repressions and executions that fell upon all those involved in the peasant movement were still quite fresh in the memory of Russian society. During these years, to tell the truth about the terrible reality of serfdom would mean to openly place oneself in the ranks of the Pugachevites. Let us remember the cruel repressions that befell A. N. Radishchev many years later for his truthful book.
After the reprisal against the peasant movement, government and landowner circles wanted to see in art images of “villagers prospering under the wise management of the empress.” In 1778, the academic artist Tonkov painted the painting “Rural Holiday,” which shows how noble gentlemen arrived in gilded carriages to admire the happy village life. Tonkov’s painting presents a “happy Arcadia” that has nothing to do with reality.
Shibanov's painting does not, of course, belong to this type of false images of peasant life. It is too truthful in its images, in its psychological content. But Shibanov did not dare to tell the complete truth, and this, undoubtedly, reduces the educational value of his work. He deliberately chose a festive theme, behind which the contradictions and terrible aspects of peasant life seemed to be hidden.
And yet, despite this significant drawback, the historical and artistic significance of Shibanov’s painting remains very great.
Shibanov acted as a bold innovator, paving the way for art in an area that had not yet been touched by anyone. The Russian peasant became the hero of a work of art for the first time precisely in the work of Shibanov. The best traditions of the peasant everyday genre, later widely developed in Russian realistic painting of the 19th century, go back to “The Celebration of the Wedding Contract” and “The Peasant Dinner.”

Wonderful paintings are “Peasant Dinner” (1774) and “Celebration of the Wedding Contract” (1777). The high pictorial qualities of these paintings place them on a par with the most outstanding works of Russian art of the 18th century, and the thoughtfulness and originality of their design, keen observation, keen psychologism and perfect ability to cope with a complex multi-figure composition testify to the great artistic experience and creative maturity of the master.

The subject matter of these paintings is completely unusual for 18th-century painting: both of them depict everyday scenes from peasant life.
In the aesthetics of that time, the everyday genre was given the lowest, subordinate place. The depiction of modern reality was not recognized as a task worthy of an artist's brush. Folk images were, in essence, expelled from the sphere of official art. True, at the Academy of Arts in the 1770-1780s there was a so-called home exercise class, where they studied household painting. But scenes from the “rough” life of the common people, of course, were not allowed there either.
Shibanov was the first among Russian artists to turn to folk images and themes taken from peasant life.

What was done in this area before Shibanov is hardly worth mentioning. Russian peasants were portrayed by visiting foreign artists - the Frenchman Leprince, who in 1758-1762 made a number of drawings (later repeated in engravings) on Russian everyday themes, and the Dane Eriksen, the author of a group peasant portrait. Leprince perceived Russian life as “oriental exoticism,” incomprehensible and implausible, and Eriksen’s naturalistic painting has neither educational nor artistic significance. Foreigners, not familiar with Russian life, could not, of course, lay the foundations of a strong tradition. If Shibanov knew their work, then, in any case, he had the right to ignore them.

His only predecessor was A. Losenko, who used the peasant type in the historical film “Vladimir and Rogneda”. The bearded warriors in helmets depicted by Losenko give the impression of Russian peasants painted from life. But, introducing folk images into his painting, the academic artist was forced to resort to “historical” motivation. And Shibanov, not bound by the norms of academic aesthetics, directly reproduced in his paintings living scenes of modern folk life.

“Peasant Lunch” is an attentive and accurate sketch from life, in which the characteristic types of peasants are truthfully and accurately conveyed. The artist strived here primarily for the living naturalness of the image.

The “celebration of the wedding contract” is much more complex and significant. Here we are no longer looking at a sketch from nature, but a finished painting with a well-found type, with a carefully thought-out multi-figure composition, a painting in which moral, descriptive and psychological tasks are consciously set and successfully solved.

On the reverse side of the painting there is an inscription by the author, explaining the plot chosen by Shibanov:
“A painting representing the Suzdal Provintsy peasants. celebration of the wedding contract, wrote in the same Provshtsy village of Tatars. 1777. Mikhail Shibanov."

We learn about the essence of this festival from ancient descriptions of Russian peasant life: “The agreement consists of exchanging tracks and small gifts. The groom comes to see the bride. This agreement is holy and inviolable.”

This solemn moment in the life of a peasant family is shown in Shibanov’s painting. The action takes place in a hut owned by the bride's parents. In the very center of the composition is the bride, dressed in a rich national outfit. She is wearing a linen shirt buttoned to the top, a white brocade sundress embroidered with flowers, and on top of it a gold brocade jacket with red embroidery. On the head is a girl’s headdress consisting of a gold embroidered bandage and a veil. The neck is decorated with pearls, a necklace of large stones descends onto the chest, and earrings are in the ears. Next to the bride is the groom in a smart blue caftan, from under which a greenish caftan and a pink embroidered shirt are visible.

On the right, behind the bride, the invitees crowd. They are also richly dressed: women in sundresses and kokoshniks, men in long cloth zipuns. Shibanov showed great compositional skill, rhythmically arranging the figures of the festival participants and uniting them with a common movement. The group of guests is closed by the figure of a young man, with a broad gesture pointing to the bride and groom. Strict rhythmic construction in no way excludes either the living naturalness of poses or their diversity.

On the left side of the picture is a table covered with a white tablecloth and laden with all kinds of food. At the table are four peasants, apparently the bride's father and her older brothers. One of them stood up and addressed the bride and groom. The figure of this peasant, slightly tilted, with his hand extended forward, is necessary for the artist in order to connect the two disconnected groups of characters.

The light in the painting clearly highlights the central group (the bride and groom) and gradually dissipates in the right half of the composition; the entire left side of it is shaded, and only faint reflections flicker on their faces. With this technique, the artist ensured that the audience’s attention was focused on the main characters.

The fabrics of the clothes are painted with confident and impeccable skill. Their color and texture are conveyed with such precision that even the type of material can be recognized. The ethnographic fidelity of the festive peasant costumes of the Suzdal province, that is, the Moscow region, is confirmed by samples that have survived to this day. But for Shibanov, not only the accuracy, but also the artistry of the image was important. The color variety of clothes in the painting is brought to a subtle color scheme, to decorative unity, which well conveys the feeling of festivity and solemnity of the ritual being performed.
The emphasized attention to the external, decorative side of the scene, dictated by an impeccable knowledge of peasant life, did not at all distract Shibanov from the main artistic task - the creation of truthful and life-like images.

Shibanov's realistic mastery is inspired by a deep and genuine love for the people. The artist admires his heroes, revealing in them the typical features of the Russian character - courage and spiritual nobility, self-esteem, a bright, optimistic outlook on life. Shibanov's characteristics are expressive and apt. Particularly attractive is the image of the groom, a young peasant guy looking lovingly at the bride. There is nothing flashy or defiant in his courageous beauty; his whole appearance is marked by soulful seriousness and majestic calm.
The central psychological theme of the picture – the emotional experiences of the bride – is revealed with great subtlety. Her face is pale, her pose seems constrained and not entirely natural; but behind this external compulsion one feels deep internal tension, barely restrained excitement, quite understandable in a peasant girl entering a new life.

The images of old age created by Shibanov are covered with genuine poetry. The majestic head of a gray-haired peasant, the father of the bride, was painted with great artistic power. The image of the old peasant woman on the right side of the composition is noteworthy for its expressiveness and truth of life. This is undoubtedly one of the most profound and at the same time democratic images in Russian art of the 18th century. The talent of a portrait painter and psychologist, revealed with such force in Shibanov’s later work, is clearly evident here.

But, along with the features of sharp and heartfelt realism, “The Celebration of the Wedding Contract” undoubtedly also contains features of the idealization of peasant life. They find their embodiment in the decorative structure of the composition itself, in emphasizing the elements of solemnity and festivity that permeate Shibanov’s entire painting.
The contentment and even prosperity of the family he depicts is by no means typical for a Russian village in the 18th century. We know that the situation of the serf peasantry in Catherine's time was truly terrifying. The life of a peasant passed in poverty, under conditions of monstrous oppression, and Shibanov, a serf himself, could know about this better than anyone else. Meanwhile, Shibanov’s painting can create completely different, erroneous ideas about the living conditions of the social environment he depicts.

How could this happen? Why did the realist artist, depicting peasant life, not note the most important, defining thing in it?

Some researchers have suggested that Shibanov’s painting depicts not serfs, but so-called state peasants, of whom there were quite a lot in the vicinity of Suzdal. Their life was, of course, somewhat easier compared to the miserable existence of serfs. But, I think, the answer to this must be sought in the real historical conditions of Russian reality in the 18th century.

Shibanov's painting was painted just three years after the tragic end of the formidable peasant war led by Pugachev. The ferocious repressions and executions that fell upon all those involved in the peasant movement were still quite fresh in the memory of Russian society. During these years, to tell the truth about the terrible reality of serfdom would mean to openly place oneself in the ranks of the Pugachevites. Let us remember the cruel repressions that befell A. N. Radishchev many years later for his truthful book.

After the reprisal against the peasant movement, government and landowner circles wanted to see in art images of “villagers prospering under the wise management of the empress.” In 1778, the academic artist Tonkov painted the painting “Rural Holiday,” which shows how noble gentlemen arrived in gilded carriages to admire the happy village life. Tonkov’s painting presents a “happy Arcadia” that has nothing to do with reality.

Shibanov's painting does not, of course, belong to this type of false images of peasant life. It is too truthful in its images, in its psychological content. But Shibanov did not dare to tell the complete truth, and this, undoubtedly, reduces the educational value of his work. He deliberately chose a festive theme, behind which the contradictions and terrible aspects of peasant life seemed to be hidden.

And yet, despite this significant drawback, the historical and artistic significance of Shibanov’s painting remains very great.
Shibanov acted as a bold innovator, paving the way for art in an area that had not yet been touched by anyone. The Russian peasant became the hero of a work of art for the first time precisely in the work of Shibanov.

The best traditions of the peasant everyday genre, later widely developed in Russian realistic painting of the 19th century, go back to “The Celebration of the Wedding Contract” and “The Peasant Dinner.”

Essay based on the painting by M. Shibanov “Celebration of the wedding contract”

Very little information has been preserved about the life of Mikhail Shibanov, a Russian artist who lived in the second half of the 18th century. Neither his year of birth nor his middle name are known. It is known that he came from serfs and was freed in 1783. There are documents in which Shibanov is called “the painter of his lordship” of Count Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, the favorite of Empress Catherine II. It is also known that the artist painted icons for churches in the southern cities of Russia - perhaps Potemkin took him there with him. In addition, Shibanov wrote for private clients in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Several paintings have survived to this day, in relation to which the authorship of Shibanov is beyond doubt. These are several portraits of contemporaries, including Catherine II, and two genre paintings from peasant life - “Peasant Lunch” and “Celebration of the Wedding Contract”. The theme of these paintings was unique for their time - then it was not customary to depict peasants on canvas.

The latest surviving evidence of Shibanov’s life dates back to 1789. This is the artist’s request to the office of Catherine II for a salary. No information about the response has been preserved.

The painting “Celebration of the Wedding Contract” depicts an agreement between two families about the wedding of their children. In the old days, decisions about children's marriage were made by parents. The children had only to follow their will. An agreement is a final agreement, and it was almost as impossible to dissolve it as a marriage. The conspiracy took place in the house of the bride's parents, the time of the wedding was determined, the bride's dowry, the number of guests and similar issues were discussed. When the fathers entered into an agreement, they invited the bride, and the mother brought her to the groom with the words: “Here is your betrothed, please love and favor.” After this, the young people had to hold hands, thereby sealing the agreement between the parents.

It was this moment that the artist captured. The figures of the bride and groom occupy a central place in the painting. And if the groom is partially obscured from the viewer by the table, then the bride is depicted at full height, which allows you to admire her outfit without interference. The groom holds the bride's hand and looks at her tenderly - it is immediately clear that he liked the girl. The bride modestly lowered her eyes, as was customary for a girl in those days. The woman behind the bride is probably her mother, who, according to custom, brought her daughter to the groom. The bride holds a handkerchief in her left hand - perhaps to wipe away the tears that were supposed to be shed when saying goodbye to the girl’s “will”.

On the left side of the picture, under the images in the red corner, the matchmakers and fathers of the bride and groom are sitting. One of the matchmakers rose from his seat and with a broad gesture invited the young people to sit next to their parents - now that everything has been agreed upon, the feast will begin, and the future spouses should also participate in it. There is already a treat on the table, including the traditional round loaf in the center. This loaf should be broken in two as a sign that the agreement has been completed.

In addition to the direct participants in the conspiracy - parents, matchmakers and the bride and groom - there are many more people in the room. All of them are depicted on the right side of the picture, in the same place where the entrance is visible. Some are sitting - probably the most honored guests, perhaps close relatives - but the majority are standing, looking with curiosity at what is happening. These are people of different ages- young and old, depicted at the very bottom in the right corner Small child. In the old days, a conspiracy was an event almost as big as the wedding itself, and it was celebrated widely, inviting not only close relatives, but also neighbors, and if wealth allowed, then the entire village. And it’s easy to guess from the girl’s outfit that the bride’s family is wealthy. The artist carefully painted intricate patterns; the play of light suggests that the bride’s clothes are made of brocade. The girl has a necklace around her neck, earrings in her ears, and the toes of red boots peek out from under the hem of her dress. The girl’s mother is also richly dressed, her headdress is decorated with pearls, and she has earrings in her ears.

The artist carefully depicted the headdresses of the women present at the meeting, and this is no coincidence. In the old days, a headdress could tell a lot about a woman. The headdress of married women was different from the headdress of girls.

The action takes place inside a peasant hut. There is nothing particularly remarkable in the interior: dark walls, icons in the corner, a table and benches under them. But the diverse feelings that gripped those present are vividly shown. Near. the bride and her mother, an old woman in a checkered scarf knelt down, folding her hands in prayer and looking at the icons. According to the custom of the conspiracy, after reaching an agreement, everyone was supposed to pray together. But others are in no hurry to do so. A man in a red caftan, sitting on a chair with his back to the viewer - probably an honored guest - is animatedly talking about something with a young woman in a kokoshnik sitting next to him. This is probably his wife. The man depicted on the edge on the left side of the picture holds a bottle of wine and a mug on his lap. The expression on his face is joyful and peaceful, he is clearly pleased, everything turned out as he wanted. Apparently, this is the father of one of the young people who will soon become spouses.

The atmosphere of festivity and solemnity in the painting is achieved to a large extent thanks to lively, bright colors. The smart clothes of the majority of those present contrast with the darkened walls of the hut. The main colors in the painting are brown, black, red, and various shades of green. Brown is the background, the walls of the room and the furniture, as well as the caftan of the man on the far left. This color unity seems to hint who is the owner of this house and, accordingly, the father of the bride. The red color is the kaftans of the guest in the foreground and one of the matchmakers. Red is also present on the bride’s warmer: red flowers in the pattern are intertwined with black leaves. The girl is wearing red boots, although not so bright. The men are wearing black boots, a sundress and the bride's mother's headdress is also dark, almost black. Black rectangles highlight icons on the wall. The groom's clothing is dominated by greenish-gray and grass-green colors. The hem of the bride's dress is greenish-golden and looks slightly dull - probably due to the lack of lighting in the hut.

The picture is filled not only with action, but also vividly conveys the feelings experienced by its participants. The artist managed to show not only the solemnity of the moment, but also the flavor of the era, its spirit.

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