Description of the picture:
Six-winged Seraphim – Mikhail Vrubel. 1904. Oil on canvas. 131×155
During the creation of this piercing and surprisingly perfect work, the artist was already hopelessly ill. The picture is inspired not only by Pushkin’s famous poem, but also by heavy, complex and frankly crazy dreams. Many art historians believe that it was this work of the master that became the pinnacle of his multifaceted work.
The messenger of God, the executor of his will, looks directly at the viewer. The sword is raised, a burning lamp symbolizes God’s presence. Seraphim’s gaze is firm, impartial and empty. He is only the executor of the Higher Will. His will is absent as such; he serves the Creator.
Sophisticated technique, color and the effect of inner light – all together create the feeling that we have a stained glass window illuminated from the outside.
The work is full of symbolic details. The content of the picture gives the author’s intellect, excellent knowledge of the topic, education. But most importantly, the artist, suffering from a severe mental illness, in his works maintained an impeccable logic, a clean and bright mind.
For a long time, the author turned to the theme of the pagan world, fairy tales, traditional beliefs, as well as to the images of fallen angels. At the end of his life, the artist came to the image of Seraphim, which looks like a complete circle of a truly creative person who completed his mission."