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Many details to point out. Two fresh graves. The boy is wearing a torn jacket and boots that are both much too large for him. The cap in front of him appears to be a military cap. The bleak landscape and the two dandelion blossoms suggest late October/early November. Poverty, civil unrest, poor nutrition, disease... The four horses ride together
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Nikolai Kasatkin born 1859 in Russia and died in 1930 in the USSR.
His work was very popular with the Bolsheviks because he did not shy away from depicting the poverty of ordinary Russians....of course they were all painted from memory and were pre-Revolution images. There was nothing like that after the Glorious Revolution, of course.
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Beggars in front of a church
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Girl leading blind clergy
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In the Anteroom of the District Court. Given the armed guards, the young man will likely be executed.
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Women and children grubbing coal. Today it would be cobalt and nickel in Africa for EV batteries.
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Hat-tip to the tireless Lucas Machias.
When Mary used the expensive ointment and her tears to wash Jesus's feet Judus protested it could have been sold and money given to the poor. Jesus said the poor will always be with you.
ReplyDeleteStill hurts to look at those pictures.
We are a short step away from there ourselves. It could come in an instant.----ken
ReplyDeleteKen you know it. EBT failure, and so on and the fragile power grid is gone.
DeleteAnd what is different in Russia today? Nothing!!!
ReplyDeleteClearly you have never been to Russia.
DeleteMSN a lot?
Bet you've not been in any bad sections of Blue cities where druggies are pooping on the sidewalk like San Francisco and Chicago.
"Grubbing Coal" ...Dad told a story about throwing rocks at hobos riding the train. The hobos would throw lumps of coal back at them which they would pick up and go sell. Depression era.
ReplyDeleteMore likely gleaning potatoes or carrots.
ReplyDeleteThat was my first impression too, but the title of the piece is "Poor People Collecting Coal from an Abandoned Pit" produced in 1894.
DeleteHeat is important
DeleteAs always, thanks for posting ERJ.
ReplyDeleteThese are haunting.
For all our fancy learning the base of Maslow needs pyramid is safe water, food and shelter, like the coal scavenger painting.
ReplyDeleteIncomplete thought and our hind brain remembers it.
DeleteI phone doesn't really replace basics.
The older Samsungs that spontaneously caught fire were much better in that regard.
DeleteI dimly remember seeing those A-shaped crosses. Been looking and can't find any info about them. Do they have a name?
ReplyDeleteOkay, found it. Golubets-cross, mostly in the northern part of Russia. Roots in old pagan ritual, but with the Orthodox cross. Syncretism. Thanks for the web crawl this am!
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