Description of the picture:
Bookstore – Victor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. 1876. Oil on canvas
Warm summer day, the market square of a small town. A few onlookers gathered at the bookstore. The shop is designed for a simple buyer, for peasants. therefore, on the counter: popular prints, sheets with fairy tales, paper icons. Among potential buyers are representatives of different classes and ages.
At the center of the composition is the only customer: a confident man with an ax behind his belt. He holds in his hands a large popular print. With the look of a connoisseur, a man is considering a picture he likes. Apparently, very soon she will decorate his hut.
Next to the man is a parish priest with his son. The father comments on the picture, approving the choice of the buyer. Behind the spiritual mentor, two curious women carefully listen to the commentary.
In the foreground, the boys read the exposed fairy tales on the sheets. Severe shopkeeper. His business is clearly not in the best way, so all his attention is focused on the buyer.
And around the sun, pigeons on the roof, clear sky. Summer for peasants is not a reading season at all. This they will do in the winter. In the meantime, the bookstore is mostly just onlookers, but curious boys."