Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich

Paris, Grand Palais, Salon d’automne: Exposition de l’art russe, October – November 1906, possibly no. 472, 473 or 474

Exhibition catalogue Salon d’automne: Exposition de l’art russe, Paris, Grand Palais, 1906, possibly no.472, 473 or 474
M.Farmakovski, 'Khudozhestvennie zametki, M.Nesterov i N.Roerich', Obrazovanie, no.8, St Petersburg, 1908, p.43 mentioned in the text
Yu.K.Baltruchaitisa and A.Benois, Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, Saint-Petersburg: Svobodnoe Iskusstvo, 1916, p.70 illustrated
E.P.Matochkin, Nikolai Roerich: mozaiki, ikoni, rospisi, proekti tserkvei, Samara: Izdatelskii Dom Agni, 2005, p.14 illustrated and listed

The sheet has been laid down on board. There is paint shrinkage to some of the pigments throughout the composition, with some associated paint loss. There is a tear of approximately 7 cm in length below the horse's tail. There is another minor tear to the left of the tail. There are some surface scratches, in particular to the the lower half. The board is framed by a gold painted tape surround. Held in a simple wooden frame behind glass. Unexamined out of frame.
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Inspired by ancient Slavic culture Roerich travelled widely in his youth, visiting different cities and villages across Russia. In 1906 he produced the present work, a sketch for the Archangel Michael mosaic in the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church near Shlisselburg, 35km from St Petersburg (fig.2). This church was built under the supervision of Vladimir Pokrovski, a Russian architect and art restorer, but it was V.A.Frolov who produced the mosaics following Roerich’s design. The Archangel Michael mosaic, destroyed during the Second World War, was located on the south wing. Along with a few photographs taken in 1907 this painting is all that remains of Roerich’s mosaic.

Roerich painted the archangel as a victorious warrior on horseback, killing a malicious snake. In 1908 Farmakovski described the work as 'galloping on a crimson horse Saint Michael, with his crimson wings, beats the black snake with his strong right hand.' (Obrazovanie, n°8). Roerich aligns himself with the Russian tradition of icon painting by representing Saint Michael with the iconography traditionally applied to Saint George and the Dragon. As such this work recalls a later work from the 1920s, Saint George the Victorious (fig.3).