Mysteries and legends of the painting “Unequal Marriage” by V. Pukirev. The scandalous “Unequal Marriage” is a picture that older grooms are not recommended to look at before the wedding

Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev(1832 -1890).Unequal marriage 1862
In 1860, two years before the creation of the painting “Unequal Marriage,” Moscow merchant Andrei Aleksandrovich Korzinkin was married to the daughter of a Bogorodsk merchant, Sofia Nikolaevna Rybnikova, in the Church of the Three Saints on Kulishki.
The groom was 37 years old, the bride was 24 years old. Andrei Alexandrovich traded tea, had 4 barns in the Old Gostiny Dvor and 10 trading establishments in Moscow.
He was a rich, prudent man, but with a gentle and benevolent character; They said about him that he didn’t even kill the mosquito that bit him, but only drove him away. It is no wonder that the bride’s parents preferred a richer and more famous groom in the commercial and industrial world to the 27-year-old merchant Sergei Mikhailovich Varentsov, who was in love with their daughter.
The handsome Varentsov was only the best man at the wedding. This strange act of Sergei Mikhailovich can be explained by the fact that his older brother was married to Korzinkin’s sister.
This greatly depressed Sergei Mikhailovich, and he shared his experiences with Pukirev.
To be fair, it must be said that the marriage turned out to be successful. A year later, the young couple had a daughter, Elena, and then two sons.
The daughter, having matured, graduated from the School of Painting and Sculpture, became an artist and married the writer Teleshov.
The eldest son, Alexander, was also partial to painting and, having matured, became friends with P.M. Tretyakov.
Thus, the wedding of Korzinkin and Rybnikova had nothing to do with the idea underlying the picture.
But what, in this case, prompted the artist to write it?
Let's express our guess. In February 1861, a Decree of the Holy Synod was issued condemning marriages with a large age difference.
The church raised a painful issue for society, since in that era most marriages were built on the basis of profit and material interest.
The plot of the picture was born by itself: Pukirev’s memory contained Varentsov’s story about his unsuccessful love.
The artist was fascinated by the topic. In 1862, Pukirev began work. He quickly wrote a small sketch (34x26) and took up a large canvas.
The old general (collective image) took the place of Korzinkin’s groom. The best man, standing with his hands folded on his chest, was Varentsov, whose portrait, painted in oil, had been kept in the studio for a long time.
Pukirev wrote his bride from Praskovya Matveevna Varentsova. The namesake of Sergei Mikhailovich Varentsov, she came from a noble family and was the grandniece of Princess Olga Mironovna Shchepina-Rostovskaya (née Varentsova-Tarkhovskaya), the wife of Prince A.I. Shchepin-Rostovsky, whose family descended from Rurik. Pukirev was in love with her.
This can be felt even in the picture. In 2002, the State Tretyakov Gallery acquired a pencil drawing by the artist V.D. Sukhov, made in 1907, on which it is written: “Praskovya Matveevna Varentsova, with whom 44 years ago the artist V.V. Pukirev painted his famous painting “Unequal Marriage.” Mrs. Varentsova lives in Moscow, in the Mazurin almshouse.”
Yes, Varentsova lived out her old age in an almshouse. The rumor circulating around Moscow said that as a young beauty she was married off to a rich man; he soon died, but she never returned to her beloved, the artist Pukirev. Should we believe this rumor? N.A. Mudrogel, the oldest employee of the Tretyakov Gallery, hired by Tretyakov himself, recalled:
“In Pukirev’s painting “Unequal Marriage”, the artist depicted himself as the best man behind the bride...
And in general, the whole picture, as I know, is an echo of the artist’s personal drama: the bride from the picture was supposed to become his wife and did not, a rich and noble old man ruined her life.”
His friend S.I. Gribkov also spoke about this tragedy of Pukirev. In the book “Moscow and Muscovites,” Gilyarovsky wrote: “S.I. Gribkov always spoke with delight about V.V. Pukirev: “After all, this is Dubrovsky, Pushkin’s Dubrovsky!” Only he was not a robber, but his whole life was like Dubrovsky’s - handsome, powerful, talented, and the same fate! A comrade and friend of V.V. Pukirev from a young age, he knew the history of the painting “Unequal Marriage” and the whole tragedy of the author’s life: this old important official is a living person.
The bride next to him is a portrait of V.V. Pukirev’s bride, and the one standing with his arms crossed is V.V. Pukirev himself, as if alive.”
So was Praskovya Matveevna the artist’s bride or not? Did the artist depict Varentsov’s tragedy or his own in the painting? Because of the painting, a major quarrel occurred between Varentsov and Pukirev when the merchant saw his image on it.
He was preparing for his wedding with the merchant's daughter Olga Urusova and was indignant that the artist told everyone about his secret. Pukirev was forced to attach a small beard to the best man, leaving all facial features unchanged.
Outwardly they resembled each other, and now one could say that Pukirev depicted himself in the picture. So Praskovya Matveevna Varentsova and Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev ended up on the canvas together. However, besides them and Shmelkov, there is another recognizable character on the canvas - the framer Grebensky.
Shocked by the painting, he decided to make a frame for it, “the likes of which have never been made before.” And he did. She had no equal in the Tretyakov Gallery.
It is a work of art in itself: carved from solid wood - both flowers and fruits. Tretyakov liked it so much that he began ordering frames from Grebensky.
By the time Pukirev began work on the painting “Unequal Marriage,” his financial situation had strengthened. He received a lot of money for making nine images for the Church of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity, which is in Gryazi, in Moscow, for two images for the church on Naryshkina’s estate. In addition, he painted portraits of the leader of the Tver nobility Poltoratsky, the leader of the Kaluga nobility F.S. Shchukin, and other commissioned portraits were nearing completion.
He, a young teacher at the Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture, was 30 years old. He dreamed of a family. It is difficult to say when Pukirev proposed to Praskovya Matveevna. One thing is obvious: as soon as her parents found out about this, they hastened to marry their daughter to a famous and rich person in their circle. He was much older than Praskovya Matveevna. They considered the marriage of their daughter to an artist, the son of a serf peasant who received his freedom in early childhood, to be unequal.
Praskovya Varentsova did not resist her mother’s will. But, it seems, she kept her love for Pukirev all her life, otherwise she would not have told an unknown artist in her old age that she once posed for the painting “Unequal Marriage.” The painting, which everyone saw in the Tretyakov Gallery in 1871, left no one indifferent. Repin wrote about its special impact: “Pukirev’s ‘unequal marriage’... they say, spoiled a lot of blood for more than one old general.”
And the historian N. Kostomarov admitted to his friends that, having seen the picture, he abandoned his intention to marry the young girl. Pukirev never started a family. Something seemed to break in him. Things weren't going well. Luck turned away from him.
He painted new paintings, but they did not find a buyer. Pukirev started drinking, stopped teaching at the school, sold his collection of paintings, lost his apartment, lived on handouts from friends and died in obscurity on June 1, 1890. So, having painted someone else’s fate in the picture, it was as if he had predicted his own. That, in fact, is the whole story.
text by Natalia Petrovna and Lev Mikhailovich ANISOV

Each of us living in Rus' knows the picture. For it, the author Vasily Pukirev received the title of professor of the Academy. The painting, with its general idea, strong expression, unusual size for an everyday subject, and masterful execution, immediately promoted the artist to one of the most prominent places among Russian painters.

Many people know that the name of the bride in the picture is Sofya Nikolaevna Rybnikova - this is the artist’s beloved, who suddenly decided to marry not Vasily, but the rich manufacturer Andrei Karzinkin. Far from my first youth. “She dreams not of becoming my wife, but of becoming my widow,” says one good play by Nadezhda Ptushkina.

Not all of us know that the artist depicted himself in the picture, unfortunate, in the form of a best man, in the right corner of the picture:

Why, why - remains unknown, but his gaze stirs the soul...

Several years ago, at a party, I met an employee of the Tretyakov Gallery, where the painting now hangs. She shared an interesting observation from her tour guide past. When she led a tour for 5th and 6th graders, absolutely all the girls angrily condemned the bride - how could she?!! Excursion for tenth graders. The thoughtful eyes of the girls, the reaction is very secretive... A group of young women, 20-25 years old. The reaction is almost unambiguous - this is the right thing... probably...

This was during the era of the USSR, a time unspoiled by House-2. Is this deep within you, women?

I'll probably stop. So as not to get ragged... :))

44 years later, such a piercing face was sketched in the Mazurin almshouse. This is the same bride. This is her life story. Life is visible in the eyes.

And finally. In the 60s of the nineteenth century, Emperor Alexander II issued a decree banning unequal marriages. A man should set the minds of the unreasonable...

On March 1 (13), 1881, at 3 hours 35 minutes in the afternoon, the emperor died in the Winter Palace as a result of a fatal wound received on the embankment of the Catherine Canal (St. Petersburg) at about 2 hours 25 minutes in the afternoon on the same day - from a bomb explosion (the second in the course of assassination attempt), thrown at his feet by Narodnaya Volya member Ignatius Grinevitsky.

For everyone is equal on earth. And marriages. Isn't that right, gentlemen?

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"Unequal marriage." Painting by V.V. Pukireva. 1947. Author: V. Zimenko

Advanced art criticism, and above all Vladimir Vasilyevich Stasov, an ardent defender of living realistic art, welcomed the painting of the young artist. The carried away Stasov found it excellent in all respects and even belittled, to please it, another central event of the 1863 exhibition - “The Last Supper,” the work of a remarkable artist-thinker Outstanding Russian historical painter and portrait painter. One of the founders of the Association of Itinerants. A master of psychological portraiture, he painted a beautiful portrait of L.N. Tolstoy..... “For example, “ . 1862 Oil on canvas, 173 x 136» Mr. and, one of the most faithful reproductions of modern life,” he wrote in one of the articles of the late 60s... “Here, not one general motif is perfectly captured, but this motif, which is repeated almost every day everywhere, no, besides it, all the surrounding details are comprehended by a faithful eye, expressed by a masterful hand.” Even earlier, in a review of the 1863 exhibition, Stasov noted that the awarding of the title of professor to the author of “Unequal Marriage” was, as he put it, “a breaking through of the previous dams, a complete recognition of the legality ... of those works that until now had to make their way timidly, sideways and with apologies, like some kind of contraband.”

The composition of the painting is structured in such a way that the viewer gets the feeling that the action in the painting is not limited to the persons depicted. The row of figures against the background can easily be continued in both directions, thanks to which the entire image is perceived as a crowd scene, including a large number of participants who are keenly interested in what is happening.

In the center of this group are two hands: the hand of the priest and the hand of the bride, and, looking at them, we, as if in focus, perceive the entire dramatic situation of the picture.

Without avoiding some sentimentality in depicting the dramatic plot, Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... nevertheless, he did not superficially approach the resolution of the chosen topic. The painting has a dual focus: it protests and denounces. Protests against the oppression of a beautiful human being, denounces the emptiness and soullessness of representatives of “high society.”

Only a man whose morality was crippled by unlimited power over people, by serfdom, could calmly decide to marry a girl against her will, essentially buying her from her parents. And the driving principle on his part was not ardent feeling, but arrogance and tyranny. The groom in the picture Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... but bright human feeling is inaccessible, and this is not just because he is an old man. He could be younger, and yet marriage with him would be an unequal marriage, a misfortune for the bride. She would have to exchange real treasures - beauty, freshness, cordiality - for the penny splendor of rank, capital and nobility. Pukirev did not sufficiently expose the social meaning of the conflict; the Groom’s advanced age masks his social decrepitude, but, undoubtedly, the artist felt the social content of his chosen topic. V. Stasov very subtly noted in one of his magnificent critical articles the social orientation of the film: “ . 1862 Oil on canvas, 173 x 136State Tretyakov Gallery“Pukirev is one of the most capital, but at the same time the most tragic paintings of the Russian school. What could be simpler than the plot taken here? Isn’t the sale and purchase of a bride a scene that everyone sees with their own eyes almost every day?” Buying and selling - this is what human relations have come down to in that environment, the flesh: from the flesh of which the high-ranking groom is born. Pukirev protested against this situation both as a person and as a citizen. His painting, restrained in painting, is an example of ideological art.

The theme of protecting the violated rights of women is one of the main themes of Russian art and literature.

The great Russian poet Nekrasov, in beautiful lines from the poem “Frost, Red Nose,” excitedly described the fate of a Russian peasant woman:

Fate had three hard parts,
And the first part: with a slave of rank,
The second is to be the mother of a slave's son,
And the third is to submit to the slave until the grave;
And all these formidable shares fell
To a woman of Russian soil.

Life for women of other classes was often little better. Violence and arbitrariness in treating a wife were a commandment of the married life of a merchant. Ostrovsky already touched on this topic in his early play “The Poor Bride.” The image of Katerina from his drama “The Thunderstorm” became a deep generalization of the typical life tragedy of a Russian woman, married to an unloved man against her will, a tragedy brilliantly shown later by Leo Tolstoy in the novel “Anna Karenina”.

Russian artists thought painfully about the fate of women.

A series of paintings dedicated to showing a woman’s difficult lot: “The Arrival of a Governess at a Merchant’s House”, “The Funeral of a Peasant”. Close to the picture Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... Zhuravlev chose the theme in a small canvas of 1874 “Before the Crown,” where a crying daughter on her knees begs her father, a tyrant merchant, not to force her into marriage.

Painting Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... and made a great impression on her contemporaries. Repin noted its impact in his memoirs: “ . 1862 Oil on canvas, 173 x 136State Tretyakov Gallery» Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... and also, they say, he spoiled a lot of blood not only for the old general, but for N.I. Kostomarov, having seen the picture, took back his intention to marry the young lady.”

The images of the picture were so in everyone’s memory that Leskov, in his novel “On Knives,” risked a curious ironic reincarnation of the characters in the scene. "It was a picture Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... « . 1862 Oil on canvas, 173 x 136State Tretyakov Gallery“Only topsy-turvy,” he describes the wedding scene. - The plump bride Elena Dmitrievna Figurina, in a white dress, stood straight and boldly held her candle in front of the wedding dress, and the groom Iosaf Platonovich sank down, his knees bent, his head fell on his chest, and tears flowed down his cheeks from tear-stained and red eyes, which he caught it with his lips and swallowed..."

Following the example of the London World's Fair of 1862, a world's fair was to be held in Paris in 1867. " . 1862 Oil on canvas, 173 x 136State Tretyakov Gallery» Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... and was included among the exhibits of the Russian department and sent to Paris along with other works of the modern Russian school of painting.

Demanding P.M. Tretyakov, who had already begun to assemble his collection at that time, heard about the new work, hastened to see it and negotiated the purchase. Correctly guessing the meaning and merits of the painting, he bought it for his gallery at the end of 1870 or beginning of 1871, paying one thousand five hundred rubles in silver to its owner, A.A. Borisovsky.

Position Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... and after the success of the picture it strengthened significantly. In the summer of 1864, he made a second trip abroad; his wealth allowed him to collect works by old masters.

His works from this time are small in size and represent typical, somewhat anecdotal “genres”. This is the canvas “The Artist’s Workshop” (1863-1864), purchased in 1868 by Tretyakov. It depicts the arrival of Customers to the painter’s workshop, getting acquainted with samples of the master’s work. Here is a general portraying an expert, and a perplexed, portly merchant. He understands nothing either in the works or in the words with which the artist accompanies the display of his works. The painting “The Baptism of a Jew” (1869-1870) and “Reception of a Dowry by Painting” (1870-1871) were painted in the same spirit. In the latter, painted in blue and pink tones, the artist’s great attention to colorful relationships is noticeable. A repetition of this painting was acquired in 1873 by Tretyakov.

Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... is keenly interested in the life around him. Unlike many “Itinerants” who were engaged in the development of any one topic, Pukirev was attracted by both peasant life (“Collecting arrears”, 1869-1870, “Potrava”, 1870) and the life of workers (“Structure of the Railway ", 1870), and scenes of merchant life ("In the concessionaire's reception room", 1875-1876). One of the first Russian artists, along with Schwartz, Pukirev painted a picture on a historical theme from the era of Ivan the Terrible: “Philip Metropolitan and Ivan the Terrible in the Assumption Cathedral” (1873).

In 1873 he left his teaching job. His powerful health is undermined by a serious illness - a nervous disorder complicated by heart disease. The money accumulated earlier is gradually spent, and life becomes more and more difficult. In 1874-1875 Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... copies " . 1862 Oil on canvas, 173 x 136State Tretyakov Gallery“, during periods of weakening of the illness, he tries to engage in creativity again. In the 70s he wrote: “The Jealousy of a Woman,” “Failed Marriage,” “The Orphan,” “On the Day of the Annunciation.” Previously sociable, infinitely kind and unusually handsome, according to reviews from people who knew him, Pukirev now becomes gloomy and irritably withdraws into himself. On March 15, 1879, a group of teachers of the School, among whom we find Pukirev’s fellow students - The largest artist of the second half of the twentieth century, a representative of critical realism. A wonderful portrait painter, author of paintings on historical and biblical themes.... and Popov, accepted in his place by Bykovsky and others, submits a petition to the Council of the Moscow Art Society for assistance to the sick Pukirev. But the assigned pension of two hundred rubles a year did not bring much relief to the artist. Close friends - artists Nevrev and kind-hearted Gribkov - help their friend from their modest means, send money to P.M. Tretyakov is trying to increase his pension. The petition sent to the Academy is returned with a cold note from the conference secretary stating that the petitioner is not applying according to his affiliation.

The sick artist does not even have a constant angle. The apartment he rented in the mid-60s in Milyutin’s house near the Sretensky Gate became beyond his means. In 1881, he lives behind the Dorogomilovskaya outpost in the village of Davydovka. Later, in 1884, he moved to Rakhmanov’s house on Babiy Gorodok. The year 1885 finds him in Lyubimov’s house in the same area.

The year 1886 arrived. Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... felt a little better. “This summer,” he writes to Tretyakov, “I felt quite well and painted Christ in full size, walking through the desert, illuminated by sunset.” Having contacted the Academy with an offer to buy your new work, Born in the village of Luzhniki (Tula province) in 1832 into a peasant family. Initially he studied with an icon painter in Mogilev, then (1847-1858) he studied at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture (MUZHVZ); while continuing to paint icons. He taught at MUZHVZ... received a refusal. Tretyakov, who was sympathetic to him, also did not consider it possible to acquire this apparently rather weak thing. The artist is selling his small collection. Shebuev's drawing and Kiprensky's "Head" were probably bought by Tretyakov, to whom Pukirev offered them in a letter on December 21, 1886.

The artist’s last refuge was the house of priest Sakharov near Bozhedomka. Here he died on June 1, 1890. In the appendix to the “Bulletin of Fine Arts,” Somov placed a small, warmly written obituary about him, with the last phrase from which we conclude our short story about the artist: “Among his comrades and students, he left behind a warm and lasting memory, and in the history of Russian art - a brilliant, albeit short trace."

V. Zimenko
Publishing house "Art". 1947
Series “Mass Library”

1. Technique “Associative series”. At the beginning of the lesson there is a phrase written on the board - unequal marriage. The children are asked to write down what they associate this phrase with. When discussing, we write down interesting associations on the board. During the lesson we refer to them and subsequently build a lesson based on them.

2. The topic that we touched on has several facets, which we try to determine during the lesson and based on them at the end of the topic we build cluster . But we need to build it before the lesson in order to know in what direction to work with students.

3. Work on the painting by V.V. Pukireva “Unequal marriage”(and as a rule, one of the students names the picture itself in associations) We build in several stages:

a. Perception of a picture through decading.

What feeling does this picture give you? (feeling of internal pain, compassion, inevitability of the event).

What makes you feel this way? (the humble and detached look of the bride, a tilted candle in her hand, the hunched figure of the clergyman, the arrogant look of the groom, the self-absorbed image of the best man)

Try to compose a monologue for each of the characters in the picture. (the work can be offered to students as a choice - choose the hero themselves, or divide the composition of monologues between the rows). We listen to the monologues and add them if necessary. We compare with the sensations that arose in each of the students.

Monologue of the viewer (comparing students’ monologues with the text about the painting).

.…. The dimly lit parish church. Objects of church utensils are drowning in the surrounding darkness. Only when you look closely do you notice the intricate bronze curls of the heavy chandelier, the dull gleaming gilding on the royal doors and the silhouettes of dark icons barely visible on them. A strong stream of light falling from an invisible source located somewhere to the left, outside the canvas, bursts into the darkness, sharply illuminating the central group - the groom, the bride and the priest. Dissolving into the darkness of the church, he still clearly identifies a small group of participants in the wedding ceremony surrounding the wedding couple.

Unequal marriage! This is clear to the viewer at first glance at the picture. What brought here such a young girl, so touching in her charm and purity, what made her connect her life with an old man? Dry prudence and callous selfishness shine through the features of his face. This is a man without a heart, without a soul, and the marriage into which he enters is nothing more than the whim of an elderly sensualist, the willfulness of a rich tyrant. Already now, cold, cruel words are ready to fall from his half-open lips, condemning the tears and despair of his poor bride.

The groom is old and decrepit, and the bride is almost a child. He is a government man, dry and prim. Deep wrinkles stand out sharply on his long, callous and flabby face. It seems especially motionless and frozen in a tight and rigid collar. On the groom’s neck is the Order Cross of Vladimir, 2nd degree, and on his chest the star corresponding to this order shines. He is filled with a sense of his own importance. Seeing the bride's tears, he expresses his annoyance to her. And she? The image of a young bride full of charm. The gentle oval of her pretty face, silky brown hair, graceful small mouth - everything about her is full of girlish charm. She seems especially touching and pure in her wedding dress. In sharp contrast with the “forged” rigid chasuble of the priest, the transparent muslin of her veil and the delicate foam of the lace of her dress seem almost weightlessly light.

b. Perception of a picture through a piece of music.

Students are invited to listen to a piece of music - the song “There was a carriage at the church” performed by different singers: Diana Arbenina, group “Golden Ring” and Nadezhda Kadysheva and Zhanna Bichevskaya, performer of a bard song. We structure the work so that the song is divided between the above-listed performers by verse. Based on this, you can either name the performers of this piece right away, or name them after listening, if the students do not name them themselves). After listening to each passage, students write down how they felt about the passage they heard. An important point is to clarify the children’s feelings from what they listened to and whether this impression changed after listening.

c. Perception of a painting through works of art.

Many outstanding literary artists were captivated by the theme of Unequal Marriage. A.S. Pushkin touched on it in the story “Dubrovsky”. The tragedy of the Russian woman is reflected with enormous force in a number of works by the great interpreter of folk life A.N. Ostrovsky - “Poor Bride”, “Dowry”, “Thunderstorm”. The most profound social understanding of the topic was found in the works of N.A. Nekrasov. This is especially well expressed in the poems “Wedding”, “To the Fortune-Telling Bride”. We will return to them a little later. But the following poem, written by Gennady Bryansky, was selected for Pukirev’s painting. After reading, we also return to our feelings.

Pale, barely breathing, eyes downcast,
Holding the candle with a trembling hand,
The bride is standing. Pure and blameless
A lovely face. With suppressed melancholy
An outstretched hand towards doom
In the guise of a wedding ring,
Ready to shackle her without deadline
The chains of a hateful crown
With the sensualist - wrinkled Kashchei
Caressed by fate and the king;
Vladimir's cross shines on his neck.
And rank, and power, and money - everything is with him.
Now the priest, dressed in a robe,
Putting the ring on a half-childish finger,
He will slam the door of the gilded cage.
Poor thing! In it you must carry your cross.
Your darling is right here, close behind you,
But you cannot be husband and wife with him.
How many of you, humiliated by fate,
The disliked are treated with a lectern!

d. Theatricalization of the picture.

Theatricalization of the plot of the paintings, and many have been written on the topic of Unequal Marriage, will allow us to move on to considering other paintings from a different point of view.

Work in groups. The class is divided into several groups, depending on the number of children. Students are given reproductions of paintings without titles, which they try to dramatize. For this purpose, a director is selected in each group. He gets the task. The rest of the actors. After the presentation of the works, there is a discussion of the plot of the picture. We think over the names of the paintings and correlate them with the names of the artists. Later we discuss how accurately the actors conveyed the plot.

P.A. Fedotov “The Major’s Matchmaking” (poem “Amendment of Circumstances, or the Major’s Marriage”)

F. Zhuravlev “Before the Crown”

V.E. Makovsky “To the Crown”

4. Technique for comparing plot and life. The subjects of the paintings are directly related to the life stories of specific people. We offer students 2 stories: one based on the plot of Pukirev’s painting “Unequal Marriage”, which is based on the story of manufacturer Andrei Aleksandrovich Karzinkin and Sofia Nikolaevna Rybnikova, the second is the love story of Prince Alexander Vasilyevich Meshchersky and Katya Podborskaya.

Story one.

In 1861, in the Church of the Three Saints on Kulishki, the wedding of manufacturer Andrei Aleksandrovich Karzinkin and Sofia Nikolaevna Rybnikova, whom the artist’s friend and student Sergei Mikhailovich Varentsev loved very much, took place. The bride herself preferred the young artist to the wealthy manufacturer, who was only 13 years older than her. Varentsev got the role of best man at this wedding, since his older brother was married to A.A. Karzinkin’s sister. (As we know, the painting is a self-portrait of the artist himself, although initially Vasily Vladimirovich wanted to paint Varentsov, but he was against it. The image of the bride was painted from Praskovya Matveevna, who was later married to Varentsov.)

Andrey Aleksandrovich was a merchant of the 1st guild, engaged in the tea trade and was engaged in expert work to examine smuggled tea. He was also an honorary citizen of Moscow, a philanthropist: he constantly invested money in the Church of Peter and Paul at the manufactory and the Nilo-Glinishchevsky Monastery, where a temple was built with his funds, was a member and benefactor of a commercial school, donated to auxiliary funds of the Moscow merchant class, was a member of the trustee Council of the Nikolaev Home for Widows and Orphans of the Merchant Class, was the headman of the Church of the Three Saints on Kulishki and a trustee of the Almshouse named after D.A. Morozov. Literary and musical evenings were held in his house, which A.N. Ostrovsky, who was friends with the family, often attended. On the same stage, K.S. Alekseev (Stanislavsky) performed for the first time in the role of Podkolesin in Gogol’s “Marriage”.

His wife, Sofya Nikolaevna, was the daughter of a Bogorodsk merchant, owner of a cloth factory. Just like her husband, she donated a lot to charity, including to the Bakhrushinsky hospital, namely to the construction of a building named after the late daughter Sophia for women with tuberculosis and a tuberculosis sanatorium, and was a trustee of the 1st Tagansky Women's Primary School. Their son Alexander Andreevich was a member of the Moscow Numismatic Society, the author of a number of works on Russian medieval medals.

In Moscow and the Moscow region there are places that are associated with the Karzinkin family - these are two country estates - dachas: in Sokolniki and in Zvenigorod district and two houses in Moscow - in Stoleshnikov Lane, building 14, the so-called apartment house of A.A. Karzinkin, built in the eclectic style in 1900 – 1901, by architect V.V. Barkov, and “Teleshov House” on Pokrovsky Boulevard, building 18/15.

Harmony in the family, despite the age difference, as we can see.

The second story.

Ekaterina Podborskaya met at her father’s house with his friend and family’s personal physician, Prokofy Semenovich Podborsky. The prince helped the talented girl first enter the gymnasium, and then paid a pension for her studies in Italy. The talented singer Podborskaya made a splash at La Scala and signed a contract for the opera season, but on the same day she received a telegram that her father was seriously ill. Having abandoned everything, she returned to Moscow and it turned out that the telegram was given by the prince, who was afraid that Catherine would become a famous singer and would not want to marry a man 48 years older than her. In 1895, the wedding of Prince Alexander Vasilyevich Meshchersky and Katya Podborskaya took place. He was 73 years old, she was only 25 years old. The relatives and friends of Prince Alexander Vasilyevich reacted extremely negatively to his action and tried to declare the prince crazy. The fact that the young bride was pregnant added fuel to the fire. And the son Vyacheslav was a copy of his own father, the so-called “blue blood”. Marriage to a girl alienated many acquaintances from the prince. “Well-wishers” did not fail to report the scandal to Emperor Nicholas II. But the prince, knowing the court intrigues very well, asked for an audience with the king and appeared there, accompanied by his young wife. The married couple endeared themselves to Nicholas II with their openness. After which his old acquaintances poured in with congratulations. But the happy life of the Meshchersky couple was short-lived. In 1903, the health of the elderly prince began to deteriorate. By this time, Princess Ekaterina Prokofievna was pregnant again. By order of the prince, the daughter born after his death was named after his wife Ekaterina - but in the family everyone called her Kitty. The princess said that the seven years they lived in marriage were like a wonderful dream for her.

You can continue the story by going to the daughter of Alexander Vasilyevich and Ekaterina Prokofyevna Kitty, who became a writer. She lived a very interesting and complex life. She was buried at the Vvedenskoye Cemetery in Moscow in 1994(5). From her books you can learn a lot about family history. The main works are memoirs - “Father and Mother”, “Golden Childhood”, “Years of Study”, “The End of Scheherazade”, “Rublevo”, “Snake”, “The Story of a Marriage”, (“The Story of an Ugly Woman”), “ The story of one painting”, “Once upon a time”.

Each story can develop in its own way. We can only introduce students to their history, this will help us in considering the social aspect of working on the topic. And we can build the next lesson on this material.

5. Working with texts of works of art “reading with notes” (reception of RKMChiP technique)

We offer students texts from the works of A.S. Pushkin “Dubrovsky”, Ostrovsky “Poor Bride”. They read them and make notes in the margins. But, if in the technique of Developing Critical Thinking Through Reading and Writing we note what we know *; something that contradicts my initial ideas!; then, I want to know > and what is new to me =, then when working with our text we can offer them other meanings of the icons.

So, what we can attribute to the description of the bride, we note =, What gives us the characteristics of the groom >, the reasons for marriage!. This way it will be easier for us to work with these texts in the future. (See Appendix No. 2)

6. Work with the painting by P.A. Fedotov “The Major’s Matchmaking” (poem “Amendment of Circumstances, or the Major’s Marriage”).

The Major's Matchmaking is a wedding story from the 19th century. It already conveys a different shade - humor, harsh satire of that time. P.A. Fedotov not only painted the picture, but also in 1849 wrote the poem “Amendment of Circumstances, or the Matchmaking of a Major” to accompany it. In it he talks about a major who wanted to improve his financial situation by marrying a rich merchant’s daughter.

Analysis of the painting. There is commotion in the merchant's house, everyone is waiting for their future son-in-law - an officer. The cutesy bride wore a ball gown with bare shoulders, the merchant's wife dressed up in a fashionable French dress and tied a scarf on her head, even the head of the family, a successful merchant, fussily buttons up his frock coat. Only the groom is not worried, he smartly twirls his mustache and anticipates a rich dowry. Calculation, love, duty - what guides these people?....

Working with text. Reading excerpts from the work “Amendment of Circumstances, or the Major’s Matchmaking.” Comparison of the picture that children have before their eyes and the text.

7. Social aspect.

Painting by V.V. Pukirev’s “Unequal Marriage” is exhibited at the Tretyakov Gallery. And the guide, who was conducting a tour through the halls of the gallery, stopped near this painting and asked a question to a group consisting of young girls: “Could you marry such an old man?” Our contemporaries, for the most part, said: “Yes.” And young girls of the last century - the mid and late 20th century - “No.” What motivates young people to do such things? We are looking for the answer to this question in this aspect.