Boris Godunov and His Family [Painting]

Product Description

Boris Godunov and His Family. Godunov in the palace, together with his wife Xenia Borisovna, their son Fyodor II Borisovich, and their nurse. Boris Feodorovich Godunov (1552-1605) was the de facto regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I "The Blessed" (1557-1598), who was the last of the Rurik dynasty. After Feodor, Russia descended into the chaotic Time of Troubles, which included The Polish-Muscovite War and political unrest.

Original painting by Boris Vasilievich Zvorykin (1872-1942) in 1927 as part of a series of book illustrations. This painting is a copy by Igor Shepel (see below).

Boris Godunov is probably best known as the ill-fated Tsar of Modest Mussorgsky's (1839-1881) opera by the same name. The libretto was provided by Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), who, in turn, took his material from N. M. Karamzin’s (1766-1826) History of the Russian State. Karamzin, a conservative, idealized old Russian autocracy, and wrote scathingly about Godunov's "criminal ambition" and "love of power".

A magnificent replica, skillfully painted in Russia by Igor V. Shepel, and mounted into a handsome wooden black frame. About 9" x 12". 1 only. Note: the back of the painting incorrectly attributes the original to Ivan Bilibin, another famous Russian book illustrator.

The artist of the painting, Igor Viktorovich Shepel, was born in 1961 in the city of Rostov-on-the-Don. From 1978-1984 he studied at the Rostov College of Arts (named after Mitrofan Borisovich Grekov (1882-1934), founding father of Soviet military theme and panoramic painting). Shepel is a member of the Union of Artists of Russia and participates in many regional exhibitions. He works and teaches at the Grekov Art School. He specializes in museum quality art done in oil, Russian masterpiece replicas as well as replicas of Western masters, both complex and simple. He is especially fond of painting landscapes as well as renditions of Russian icons. Many of his works are in museums, galleries and private collections in Russia, Germany, Brazil, and Canada.