Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire, also known as Cossacks of Saporog Are Drafting a Manifesto

Brief description

The crown jewel of the collection of the Kharkiv Fine Arts Museum is a painting by Ilya Repin "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks to Sultan Mehmed IV of the Ottoman Empire". This painting belongs to the heyday of the creative activity of the artist. Repin created two paintings as a result of his work on a patriotic theme covering the almost two-century long history of the Zaporozhian Cossacks. The first, written in 1880-1891, belongs to the State Russian Museum, the second, formerly located in the State Tretyakov Gallery, was transferred to the artist's homeland in Kharkiv.

Unlike the St. Petersburg painting that has rather academic, balanced composition and horizontally frize rhythm, the Kharkiv picture has a genre-romantic sound, a more emotional approach to exploring the historical topic. 

The sense of a brilliant artist and a person who grew up in Ukraine helped Repin to express the spirit and mentality of the nation in the "Cossacks". The enthusiasm and respect that he felt for this national order of chivalry were translated into the original, multi-figured composition - the manifestation of the essence of Zaporozhian freemen.

By depicting the Cossacks at the moment of ultimate display of their liveliness and fearlessness, the artist reveals the true element of national character, the spirit of chivalry and camaraderie inherent in the Cossacks. Repin wrote to famous Russian critic Stasov: “... Well, what a folk!!! ... The head goes around as they are blood and thunder, but you can’t part with them. A cheerful folk. A hell of a folk!”

In this large-scale painting, each character demonstrates a unique personality - each represented individual has its own character, its own temper. It is a dynamic, vivid and passionate painting, which is designed in a warm reddish-brown color scheme. It conveys the muted colors of summer evenings, smoke, fog that envelop the Cossack society.

In terms of the profundity and seriousness of expression of the historical theme as well as the solidity and the level of a scientific approach, both paintings are among the best examples of historical art of the time. The role of “Zaporozhians” in Repin's artistic heritage was rated by Stasov - during the sketching phase he already felt the significance of this piece of art, named it a "supreme creation" and compared to "The Night Watch" painting by Rembrandt.

Repin completed the Kharkiv painting in 1896. It was first shown at the exhibition of art experiments of Russian and foreign artists in St. Petersburg in 1896-97. At the same time, the painting was bought by the famous collector Pavel Tretyakov. It ended up in his gallery in 1897, after being featured at the General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm.

Olha Denysenko, Head of the Department at the Kharkiv Fine Arts Museum