Author: Shibanov M.

Painting by the serf artist M. Shibanov "Celebration wedding contract"occupies a prominent place in the development of Russian genre painting of the 18th century.

On the reverse side The author’s inscription has been preserved in the painting, explaining the plot chosen by Shibanov:
"The picture representing the Suzdal province of the peasants. The celebration of the wedding agreement, wrote in the same province of the Tatars in 1777. Mikhail Shibanov."
We learn about the essence of this festival from the old descriptions of Russian peasant life: "The agreement consists in exchanging rings and in small gifts. The groom comes to watch

bride. This conspiracy is holy and indestructible."
This solemn moment in the life of a peasant family is shown in Shibanov's painting.
The action takes place in a hut belonging to the bride's parents. In the very center of the composition is placed the bride, dressed in a rich national dress. She is wearing a linen shirt buttoned to the top, a white brocade sundress embroidered with flowers, and over it a gold brocade with red sewing of a shower warmer. On the head is a girl's dress, consisting of a gold embroidered bandage, and a veil. The neck is adorned with pearls, a necklace of large stones descends to the chest, earrings in the ears. Next to the bride is the groom in an elegant blue caftan, from under which one can see a greenish semi-caftan and a pink embroidered shirt.
To the right, behind the bride, the guests 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 participants in the festival 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 postures or their diversity.
On the left side of the picture is a table covered with a white tablecloth and laden with all sorts of food. At the table are four peasants, apparently the father of the bride and her older brothers. One of them stood up and addressed the bride and groom with a speech. The figure of this peasant, slightly inclined, with his hand outstretched forward, is necessary for the artist in order to connect two disparate groups of characters.
The light in the picture 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 highlights flicker on the faces. With this technique, the artist has ensured that the attention of the audience is focused on the main characters.
With confident and impeccable craftsmanship, the fabrics of the clothes are painted. Their color and texture are conveyed with such accuracy that even the grade of matter can be recognized. The ethnographic fidelity of the festive peasant costumes of the Suzdal province, that is, the Moscow region, is confirmed by the samples that have survived to this day. But for Shibanov, not only accuracy, but also the artistry of the image mattered. The color variety of clothes is brought in the picture to a subtle color scheme, to a decorative unity that well conveys a sense of festivity and solemnity of the ritual being performed.
Emphasized attention to the external, furnishing side of the scene, dictated by an impeccable knowledge of peasant life, did not divert Shibanov from the main artistic task - the creation of truthful and lifelike images.
Shibanov's realistic skill 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. Especially attractive is the image of the groom, a young peasant boy, lovingly looking at the bride. In his masculine beauty there is nothing flashy, defiant, his whole appearance is marked by penetrating seriousness and majestic calmness.
With great subtlety, the central psychological theme pictures - emotional experiences of the bride. Her face is pale, her posture seems unfree and not entirely natural; but behind this outward compulsion one senses a deep inner tension, a barely restrained excitement, quite understandable in a peasant girl entering a new life.
The senile images created by Shibanov are fanned with genuine poetry. The majestic head of a gray-haired peasant, the father of the bride, is painted with great artistic power. The image of an old peasant woman on the right side of the composition is remarkable in its expressiveness and life truth. This is undoubtedly one of the deepest and at the same time democratic images in Russian art of the 18th century. The talent of a portrait painter-psychologist, revealed with such force in the later work of Shibanov, is clearly manifested already here.
But along with the features of sharp and penetrating realism, in the "Celebration of the wedding contract" there are undoubtedly 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 picture.

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, date back to the "Feast of the Wedding Contract" and "Peasant Dinner".

Composition based on the painting by M. Shibanov “The Celebration of the Wedding Contract”

There is very little information about the life of Mikhail Shibanov, a Russian artist who lived in the second half of the 18th century. Neither the year of his birth nor his patronymic are known. It is known that he came from serfs, in 1783 he received his freedom. There are documents in which Shibanov is called the "painter of his lordship" of Count Grigory Alexandrovich Potemkin, a 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 "Feast of the Wedding Contract". The theme of these paintings is unique for its time - then it was not customary to depict peasants on the 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 response data has been preserved.

The painting "The Celebration of the Wedding Contract" depicts an agreement between two families about the wedding of their children. In the old days, parents made decisions about the marriage of children. Children were only to follow their will. A collusion is a final arrangement, and it was almost as impossible to break it as a marriage. The conspiracy took place in the house of the bride's parents, it determined the time of the wedding, discussed the dowry of the bride, the number of guests and the like. 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-mummer, I ask you to love and favor.” After that, the young people had to join hands, thereby sealing the agreement of the parents.

It was this moment that the artist captured. The figures of the bride and groom occupy a central place in the picture. And if the table partially obscures the groom from the viewer, then the bride is depicted in full growth, which allows you to admire her outfit without interference. The groom holds the bride's hand and gently looks at her - it is immediately clear that he liked the girl. The bride modestly lowered her eyes, as was the custom of 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, saying goodbye to the girl's "will".

On the left side of the picture, under the images in the red corner, sit the matchmakers and fathers of the bride and groom. One of the matchmakers got up and with a broad gesture invites young people to sit next to their parents - now that everything has been agreed, the feast will begin, and 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 contract 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. Someone is sitting - probably the most honored guests, maybe close relatives - the majority is standing, looking at what is happening with curiosity. These are the people different ages- young and old, at the very bottom in the right corner is depicted Small child. In the old days, conspiracy was an event almost as big as the wedding itself, and they celebrated it widely, inviting not only close relatives, but also neighbors, if prosperity allowed, then the whole village. And the fact that the bride's family is wealthy is easy to guess from the girl's outfit. The artist painstakingly 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 socks 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 conspiracy, and this is no coincidence. In the old days, a headdress could tell a lot about a woman. Headdress married women different from the girl's headdress.

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 conspiracy, after reaching an agreement, it was supposed to pray all together. But others are not in a hurry to do so. A man in a red caftan, sitting with his back to the viewer on a chair - probably an honored guest - is talking animatedly about something with a young woman sitting next to him in a kokoshnik. It's 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 knees. His facial expression is joyfully 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, solemnity in the picture is to a large extent achieved thanks to lively, bright colors. The elegant clothes of most of those present contrast with the darkened walls of the hut. The main colors in the picture are brown, black, red, various shades of green. Brown is the background, the walls of the room and 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 caftans of the guest in the foreground and one of the matchmakers. Red is also present on the bride's shower jacket: red flowers in the pattern are intertwined with black leaves. The girl is wearing red boots, although not so bright. On men, black boots, a sundress and a headdress of the mother of the bride are also dark, almost black. Black rectangles stand out on the wall icons. The groom's clothes are dominated by greenish-gray and grassy-green colors. The hem of the bride's dress is greenish-gold, looks a little dull - probably due to lack of lighting in the hut.

The picture is saturated 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.

Searched here:

• essay on the picture of the celebration of the wedding contract
• composition based on the painting by Shibanov The Feast of the wedding contract
• wedding contract celebration essay

Information about the work, and even less about the life of Mikhail Shibanov, is very poor.
Neither the date of his birth, nor the origin, nor the place of study are known.
The only fact is that he carried out private orders.
There is an assumption that he painted iconostases, and some of his works of the 18th century are also known.
In these works, the author depicted the life of ordinary peasants.
They are unique for their time precisely in terms of the subject of the image.
In those days, no one painted peasants.
These paintings include his canvas "Celebration of the wedding contract."

This picture took pride of place in the development of the Russian genre of the XVIII century.
On the other side of the picture, the author's inscription was preserved, which told about why the author chose such a plot.
You can learn about the celebration itself from the old descriptions of peasant life.
The bottom line is that the groom must come and look at the bride.
They exchange rings and small gifts.
And if everyone agreed on everything, and everyone liked everything, then no one had the right to violate this agreement, since it was “holy and indestructible”.
It was this solemn moment that Mikhail Shibanov showed us in his reproduction.

In the picture, in the very center, we see a very solemnly dressed bride.
She stands like a statue among people who are carefully examining her.
She is dressed in a colorful sundress, light in color.
The head is covered with a headdress embroidered with gold thread and a veil.
There are pearls on the neck.
Next to the bride, we see the suitably dressed groom.
He is wearing an elegant caftan.
The head is covered with a dark hat.
There are a lot of people around them.
They are also dressed in fine clothes.
Men are wearing long cloth zipuns, and women are in chic sundresses and kokoshniks.
On the other side of the picture, you can see a table and four men.
Apparently, these are native brides: father and brothers.
They kindly invite everyone to the table.
And if it were not for the preface to the picture, then at first glance you would not say that these are ordinary peasants.

With his work, Mikhail Shibanov shows us the faith of the common people in traditions.
No matter how hard it was for them, they always adhered to traditions and gave themselves with all their heart.

Painting essay

In front of me is a reproduction of Mikhail Shibanov's painting "Feast of the Wedding Contract", written by him in 1777. Now this picture is in the Tretyakov Gallery. In this picture, the author depicted an old rite of wedding conspiracy, one of major events in the life of a peasant. For the first time in Russian fine arts, peasants were depicted not as secondary characters, but as heroes of the central plot of the picture.

In the picture we see a celebration inside the hut. As was customary then, the groom's relatives and the bride's relatives sit in different corners of the room. On the left are the matchmaker and the groom's relatives. On the right are the bride's relatives. We can see a smiling old woman holding her hands to her chest - for sure this is the mother of the bride. From her posture, we understand that she is very excited. In the center of the picture we see the bride, and the groom carefully holding her hand. The bride is dressed in a silver patterned sarafan and a golden duvet warmer with red flowers. On her head is a long veil of konovat. The groom is dressed in a greenish semi-caftan with buttons. Over it is a bluish caftan. The groom's matchmaker moved closer to him and said something. Behind the bride are village beauties in kokoshniks.

The matchmaker is dressed in a red cloth zipun. Near him sits a spree peasant with a mug in his hands. On the table, between the bride and groom, there are various dishes prepared for the festive dinner.

The attitude of Mikhail Shibanov towards the peasants in his picture is not at all negative. The artist knows them and treats them with respect, he likes them. This is because (as is known from his biography) he himself was a serf until 1783, and he knows their traditions, customs and rituals very well. And note that this picture was painted by him in the years when no one portrayed the peasants.

When they were considered black. In total, Mikhail Shibanov painted two paintings of similar content: this one, and Peasant Lunch (1774).

I liked Mikhail Shibanov’s painting “The Wedding Contract Feast”, because it depicts a very interesting plot for me - I never knew about the existence of this ancient rite.

Facts from the biography of the artist. If their contemporaries Mikhail Shibanov, the serf painter of Prince Potemkin, did not enjoy any particular fame, then the next descendants simply did not suspect his existence. Meanwhile, throughout the 19th century, two of his best portraits continued to be engraved for book illustrations and individual prints. Portraits of Catherine II in a traveling suit and her favorite, Count Dmitriev-Mamonov, became more and more famous, and the memory of the master completely disappeared. At first, they only slightly altered the surname, not presenting any specific personality behind it - a certain Shebanov, that's all that the publishers of old portraits could say. But then the name of the artist underwent a new alteration, and both of his famous works began to be attributed completely specific person- a pupil of the Academy of Arts Alexei Petrovich Shabanov, a student of Dmitry Levitsky.

Only the 20th century returned famous works to Shibanov. On the back of the newly discovered portrait of the son of Admiral Grigory Andreevich Sviridov, the hero of the Chesme battle, the researchers for the first time saw the autograph of the mysterious master of the late 18th century: "Written by Mikhail Shibanov."

Paintings by Mikhail Shibanov

It seemed that Shibanov’s riddle was completely resolved and experts could give the newly discovered artist his proper place as a portrait painter. middle class who once - in the portrait of Dmitriev-Mamonov - managed to rise to the heights of genuine art. It was rightly written about this canvas that it "bears comparison with the most famous works of exquisite art of the 18th century, both in the subtlety of the drawing and in its confident gentle technique."

And Mikhail Shibanov would have remained a textbook example of a single creative success, one take-off, one happy exertion of strength, if the new discovery had not turned the newly formed view of specialists upside down - the Tretyakov Gallery acquired two old canvases, on the back of one of which stood: “This picture represents the Suzdal province and peasants. Written in 1774 Mikhail Shibanov", and on the back another -" Painting representing… wedding contract festival, wrote in the same province in the village of Tatarovo in 1777 Mikhail Shibanov.

These two works almost fifty years anticipated the peasant genres of Alexei Gavrilovich Venetsianov, who was considered to be "the first Russian painter of the natural direction and the ancestor of Russian everyday painting."

But the history of the Russian genre has not lost any of its dignity from the fact that now the outstanding talent of Venetsianov no longer stood at its origins - Mikhail Shibanov owes his superiority not only to a happy discovery new topic, but also an outstanding technique, amazing for a serf master who did not go through an academic school.

And "Peasant Dinner" and "Wedding Contract" painted by no means by an average portrait painter, but by a mature, first-class master, however, in the canvases one feels constraint, static, and this is quite natural - this is how they generally wrote in his time. But the composition is complete and thoughtful, the types are expressive, the coloring is deep and full-sounding. And truly surprising for Russia at the end of the 18th century - when the idea of ​​the need for a serious description of folk life - was just awakening among its most advanced scientists - the serious ethnographic interests of the serf artist.

M. Shibanov: painting “Celebration of the wedding contract”

The picture of conspiracy, conveyed by the artist with scientific conscientiousness, was far ahead of the first verbal descriptions of the peasant wedding ceremony. This is its special value.

The Shibanovsky window in 1777 is unique not only for the history of Russian painting, but also for Russian science. Perhaps Tatarovo was the native village of the artist - Potemkin owned lands in the "Suzdal province" - and then it becomes clear not only his excellent knowledge of folk life, but also the richness of technology that is difficult to explain in another case: Suzdal icon painters have long been famous for their passing from generation to generation skill.

wedding contract(in different localities it was called in its own way - conspiracy, handshaking, zaruchiny, drunkenness) followed a successful matchmaking and played the same role in a village wedding as engagement in a later urban rite.

Church betrothal almost completely absorbed the ancient pagan ritual, and in the 19th century, researchers had to record the already half-erased features of the ceremony and the images of “conversational” songs, unconscious by the singers themselves. The original meaning of the collusion symbolism was lost long before the time of Shibanov, but the form of the rite, which each generation found new explanations for, was carefully and zealously kept.

Shibanov also noted this traditional attitude to the ancient ritual. See with what attention the women crowding behind the bride's shoulders follow the course of the ceremony, how tremulously they guard a possible mistake that, according to ancient beliefs, can turn the whole fate of the young.

Very successfully and naturally, Shibanov singled out the main symbols of the collusive rite, and did this not because of the knowledge of their open essence - after all, the participants in the ceremony themselves were not aware of it, but because of creative sensitivity and alertness: the artist was able to catch the instinctive respect with which they treated to these, the most important once, attributes of the actors of the scene. The artist singled out a loaf on the table, a ring on the groom's finger and forced us - involuntarily continuing the gesture of a young man in a red zipun - to think about a bench in the corner ("on a kut"), where he calls the bride and groom to sit down. And all this is not accidental, confirm the hypotheses that arose later than a century later.

In the days of matriarchy (by the way, this is why the ceremony is led by women) and later, in the patriarchal era, the essence of the conspiracy, apparently, was to ask the permission of the ancestor deity to leave the clan, receive a blessing and, in his invisible presence, seal the contract with magical unbreakable bonds.

In East Slavic wedding rituals, the symbol of the deity of the family was either a “pillar” by the stove, which replaced the sacred fire of an ancient family hearth, or a loaf. Shibanov depicts a “cow ritual” (the oven does not appear in the composition at all) - the most ancient, complex and ambiguous.

The viewer does not see the bench in Shibanov's painting, but, most likely, on that evening in 1777 it was covered with an inside-out sheepskin coat, which replaced the skin of the totem animal of the Eastern Slavs - a brown bear at peasant ceremonies.

The "planting" on the skin, which later - at the wedding itself, took place with even greater solemnity, was supposed to transfer the power of a common ancestor to the groom and provide the bride with a numerous and happier offspring. But up to this point, the bride had to get permission from a closer ancestor - the ancestor of her own family - to go to the groom's hearth, under the protection and patronage of the new deity. And parting with the guardian spirit, of course, she shouldn’t rejoice - that’s why Russian brides are so sad, that’s why they lament and cry, diligently depicting reluctance and compulsion.

The tense expectation that seized all those present makes us assume that the most important point collusion - "binding" the young. A handkerchief was spread on the table (in the picture it is still in the bride’s hand), rings were placed in it, raised above their heads three times, then the bride and groom exchanged rings and, at the end of the ceremony, the handkerchief tied the hands of the betrothed and the mummer.

The bride and groom are a hundred years old, but together!

According to an old magazine...