The phenomenon of the Zaporozhian Sich has been the subject of research by many great Ukrainians, such as Mykola Gogol, Taras Shevchenko, Volodymyr Antonovych, Mykhailo Hrushevsky, and others. In the world of art, the Ukrainian Cossack theme was most powerfully portrayed in Ilya Repin’s painting, “Zaporozhian Cossacks Writing a Mocking Letter to the Turkish Sultan”, painted after extensive research and many travels throughout Ukraine and the Zaporozhian area.

The painting captures the independent spirit of the Ukrainian Cossacks and people. It is also imbued with considerable humor, depicting the cheering Cossacks composing an insulting letter to the mighty Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the most powerful in the world in those times. The letter really existed and was written as a response to the demands of Sultan Mahmud IV to surrender. Into the superb canvas of the Zaporozhians, Repin poured 13 years of his life, and contemporaries said it was his favorite canvas. The master sought to achieve historical accuracy through meticulous research with historians, especially with the renowned expert in Zaporozhian Sich matters, Professor D. Yavornytsky. The painting of those brave and reckless Cossacks and the letter both reflect part of the heritage of the Ukrainian nation. To date, the painting is exhibited in the St. Petersburg Art Gallery in Russia. But if you visit Ukraine, you can also enjoy the second version of Repin’s famous canvas in the Kharkiv Art Gallery.

 It is not surprising that Ilya Repin was fascinated by the Ukrainian theme often found in his works. This world-famous painter was born in the Ukrainian town of Chuhuyiv, Kharkiv region in 1844. It was during his youth in Ukraine that his gift for art was nurtured through an elementary art education.

After graduating from the St. Petersburg Academy of Art in the Russian capital at the age of 25, his reputation as a portrait painter was established. He painted portraits of the most famous men of the then-Russian Empire, totalling over 300 portraits in all. In his portrait of the great Ukrainian poet, Taras Shevchenko, the artist gave him an admonishing look which penetrates through the viewer; a reference to how Repin himself sought to honor his countryman and his homeland.

 After the 1917 Revolution, the master refused to live in the Soviet Russia and moved to Finland. There he died at the age of 86, leaving a rich and magnificent artistic legacy.