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| V.G. Perov. The Last Inn (1868) Oil on Canvas |
One of my talks is on the subject of Russian roads. Russia is a big place and even today many roads are not particularly easy to navigate outside the main cities.
In the talk I look at many aspects of the idea of rhe road. I consider how roads manifest themselves in the Russian consiousness in a metaphorical way, and also look at how roads have been depicted in Russian art.
The pictures include the wonderful image above by Vassily Perov (1834 – 1882) who was one of the founder members of the ‘Peredvishniki’ or ‘Wanderers’ , a group of artists who sought to escape the suffocating atmosphere of the Imperial Academy by literally taking to the road to ensure that their art was seen in provincial centres.
In Perov’s painting we see the route out of a provincial town. It goes past the ‘last inn’ just inside the town gates. The sunlight in the distance is misleading since a glance at the chimney of the inn shows that a bitter wind is blowing, and in the sledge in front of the inn some unfortunate person is waiting in the cold, presumably while the master of the house is having a drink inside!
I was reminded of the topic of Russian Roads today because I have been alerted (via Twitter) to a fine collection of photographs of Russian Roads through the ages, one of which is shown below. More can be seen on the website English Russia available here.
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| A road in the depths of Russia. The sign reads ‘Paradise’ in one direction and ‘Jerusalem’ in the other. |