Wikipedia:Featured picture candidates/Maslenitsa

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[edit] Maslenitsa

Reason: Maslenitsa, a 1919 painting by Boris Kustodiev.

Every Christian nation has its variety of Carnival, and Russia is no exception. The last week before Great Lent is called Maslenitsa. Its literal meaning is "Butter Week", although a more appropriate translation would be "Pancake Week". Maslenitsa has a dual ancestry: pagan and Christian. On the pagan side, Maslenitsa is a sun festival, celebrating the imminent end of the winter. On the Christian side, it is the last week before the Lent, when eating meat is forbidden, but pancakes (bliny) are still allowed and consumed in great quantities.

The Russian painter Boris Kustodiev (1878-1927) was fascinated with old, rural Russia which he felt was slowly but steadily disappearing. At the time of the Russian Revolution he created a series of paintings which were intended as a farewell to the provincial "Holy Russia" of yore. They are full of movement and warmth in the tradition of old Russian lubok, the Brueghels, and the Venetian vedutisti. The first of these paintings is now at the Tretyakov Gallery. Some others canvases from the series are on exhibit at the National Art Museum of Belarus[1], Russian Museum [2], and a private collection.[3]

The nominated work was painted by Kustodiev in 1919, at the the height of the Russian Civil War. The painting seems to encompass a broad range of things associated with Russia. There we have snowy winter weather, a troika, an Orthodox church with onion domes. On the right is a theatre with a wrestling poster. On the left is a pub advertising "cheese" and "caviar". I believe the reproduction of this bright, hectic painting encapsulates the festive mood of Maslenitsa as the finale of the long Russian winter, thus significantly improving our article about this holiday. The canvas was presented by Kustodiev to his friend, painter Isaak Brodsky. It still hangs in his memorial house at St. Petersburg.

Articles this image appears in: Maslenitsa
Creator: Boris Kustodiev

Nominate and support. --Ghirla^-трёп- 14:01, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
Support, I think it's beautiful. -- Phoenix2 ^(holla) 15:31, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
Support Wonderful painting.Bewareofdog 22:58, 9 June 2007 (UTC)
Support I like the painting. The reproduction is of good quality and it is quite useful Alex Bakharev 01:38, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
Support Fascinating Painting and as per comments above Booksworm ^{Sprechen-sie Koala?} 08:52, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
Support per all above. There are some compression artifacts but nothing too serious. --KFP (talk | contribs) 10:55, 10 June 2007 (UTC)
Support - nice image. Very encyclopedic.--Wolf ^{talk | हिन्दी | বাংলা} 11:04, 11 June 2007 (UTC)
Support Exquisite image; captures the very spirit. Chris Buttigieg^talk 20:54, 12 June 2007 (UTC)
Strong Support: Brilliant picture of a wonderful painting. Shows good detail of the painting. --Kalyan 05:53, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
Support Great picture, flawless scan, and get this: no blown highlights!--Here T oHelp 16:45, 13 June 2007 (UTC)
Comment Is this a somewhat romantic or realistic painting?--Svetovid 23:32, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

How would you classify the "Winter Landscape with a Bird Trap"? I don't know how that particular town looked in 1919, but I'm afraid the appearance was rather dismal. So it's about romaniticizing power of memory rather than about real historical conditions. --Ghirla^-трёп- 13:39, 14 June 2007 (UTC)
Support Wonderful subject, no tech. flaws in the scan either. vlad§inger ^tlk 17:24, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
Strong Support Just a fantastically vibrant and detailed painting, and it’s a great scan of it! —BrOnXbOmBr21 • talk • contribs • 20:23, 22 June 2007 (UTC)