Show all images on one page	#005995 Title: Snowmaiden Artist: Smirnova Vera Size: 9x13x3 Size (inches): 3.75x5.25x1.25 Price : $650 SOLD!

The exceptional talent of Vera Smirnova is used to paint this composition. As a Palekh artist she has excelled in breaking creative ground for herself and the village. She works with expression and emotion, then couples her fantastic skills to create breathtaking lacquer art. The box features a poetic fairy-tale "Snowmaiden" or "Snegurochka" (the Russian title). This fairy-tale has two versions. The first version is a play/opera written by Piotr Tchaikovsky (who did the music) and Alexander Ostrovsky (who was the playwright). In this version the end of the tale is characterized as a tragedy with the Snowmaiden melting and Mizgir mourning over her. The second version is geared more for children and involves an old couple who adopts the Snowmaiden when she is sent to live on earth. In the end she and Lyel fall in love, but she disappears in a mist and Lyel is only saddened by the fact. In both cases the Snowmaiden leaves the natural world, but she was an outsider from the start. The point is that she was able to feel love for a few fleeting moments, and was not deprived of this purely human experience.
One thing that makes this piece so interesting is the fact that the composition consists of two parts. The foreground action shows the feast arranged in honor of Slavonic God Yarilo (the Sun). The Tsar sits on the wooden throne and observes his people singing and dancing in a ring. While everybody make marry, Mizgir embraces the Snowmaiden who melts under the merciless sun rays. By framing this scene with the golden frame, the artist creates the illusion that the action that takes place is seen through the opened window. The frame is made out of lustrous gold leaf on which Smirnova has painted complex floral patterns with black tempera paints. The similar band composed of gold metal leaf wraps around the sides of the box. The background features the Snowmaiden's parents, the Faerie Spring and the Mighty Winter observing the tragic death of their daughter. Gold metal leaf is also used as an underlay for painting the costumes of all characters, the sun and its rays, and the trees depicted in the foreground.
The box is made out of paper-mache made. Black lacquer covers the exterior and red lacquer covers the interior of the box. The box has a hinge on the top of the scene and rests on four feet. The work is signed and dated by the artist.