Show all images on one page	#001251 Title: Beauty and the Beast Artist: Smirnova Size: 15x19x4 Price : $980 SOLD!

This sentimental beauty was painted to please. The sentiment within is dramatic, this artistry exudes love and the romantic intention associated with it. Vera Smirnova, from the village of Palekh, is the talented artist responsible for this breathtaking composition. The theme is the classic tale "Beauty and the Beast" (its Russian version "Scarlet Flower" you can read on our website). This tale tells about a beautiful girl who loves a horrible beast with all her heart for his kindness and devotion. In the end of this tale the beast turns into a handsome Prince and marries his sweetheart.
Here the artist depicts several scenes from this breathtaking tale. All of five scenes are set into circles. The circle located in the left upper corner of the box shows the moment of the tale when a merchant departs for foreign countries and asks his daughters what presents they would be pleased to have. The elder daughters ask his father to bring fashionable attire and jewelry, whereas the youngest daughter orders only a flower. The next scene depicted in the right upper corner shows the moment when the merchant picks a beautiful flower for his daughter. He doesn't know that it is the favorite flower of a horrible beast who is the ruler of the land where the merchant is on a visit. So, he becomes the beast's prisoner, but his beloved youngest daughter decides to take his place. Then in the left bottom corner we can see an episode when the elder sisters think how they can prevent their youngest sister from returning to the beast's kingdom. The scene depicted in the right bottom corner shows the dying beast and the merchant's youngest daughter who swears that she loves the beast. And in the middle of the composition we can see the wedding of the beast turned into the handsome Prince and the merchant's daughter.
The composition is very bright and festive. Soothing greens, passionate reds, cool blues and a refreshing purple tone take up the majority of the sketching. The characters clothes are thoroughly contoured with bright gold and aluminum paint. This builds radiance and texture, both at the same time. Pieces of gold metal leaf are used to decorate the character's costumes, the curtains, musical instruments; to create the light source within a window and to highlight some other elements. The framing for the lid's artistry is very attractive. Using gold leaf, the artist creates lustrous floral patterns that frame each the compositions and spread on the whole surface of the lid.
The box is made out of paper-mache. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. Elegant gold ornamentation decorates the sides of the box. The box has a hinge from the left of the composition and rests on a flat bottom. The is signed with the artist's name, village and year (2004).