Art and Eye

Although the eye within the canvas does not acknowledge the viewer, the presence of this figure is enough to command anyone's attention. The intensity of the woman's gaze fits into the pictorial scene of Sadko and the Underwater Kingdom for which this painting is a study. This complicated, Orientalising piece based on a folkloric tale was not one that Ilya Repin was truly satisfied with, but was well regarded by contemporaries. Even in this isolated study the viewer quickly realises a mythologising subject, with illusionistic hues of blue melting into the background that could reference the underwater scene of the final painting. Repin also used the figure for a ceramic design, highlighting his reuse of a figural type both in different contexts and media. The figure could equally be based on the famous Ukrainian beauty Sophia Dragomirova, with her noticeable thick eyebrows and dark hair. Repin painted Sophia's portrait, but the connection to this study is only speculative. 

  After the introduction of Classical training through teaching at Russia's Academy of Arts opening in 1764, works such as Losenko's Farewell of Hector and Andromache began to be produced, imitating Western modes. The eye is instantly aware of the Classical lighting with which the artist has imbued this piece, a heroic glow illuminating the contrapposto stance of Hector who flings his outstretched arm upwards towards darkening clouds. Dressed in neoclassical attire, even one who is less familiar with the story can grasp the military connotations of the event, as Hector prepares for battle. Clearly, the storm brewing is a threatening symbol, implying his resulting death after the events depicted in this scene. Hector's tilted face is one of anguish and torment, his brow furrowed, his expression pained and confused. Beside him his wife, clutching their infant son, is slightly more contained in her emotions. Perhaps Losenko has relegated the emotional strength of the piece sol