Models for the Painting
When the most famous version of his magnum opus was finally finished in 1891, it was an epic canvas, vigorous and exuberant, and reflecting every kind of laugh or smile that one could imagine.
A very large painting (203 cm x 358 cm/80 in x 141 in), it contained more than sixteen well- developed figures closely grouped around a table on which the scribe was penning the letter. Each Cossack is dressed in a period costume, and there are a great variety of facial types among them. Weapons and other artefacts, based on models from the collections of Tarnovsky, Yavornytsky, and the museums, are prominently displayed across the picture. The fictional Taras Bulba, dressed in red, holding his enormous sides, stands to the right. Otaman Sirko, pipe in mouth, leans forward over the scribe, and to the left, a Cossack in a black fur hat of the type once worn by Hetman Sahaidachny looks on intently.All of the major figures are based on real models, many of them peasants originally drawn in Ukraine, but others were more famous Ukrainians or personal friends of Repin's from St Petersburg. Repin chose his models carefully, including only those who were good natured or revealed interesting smiles or laughter: Taras Bulba was O.I. Rubets, a professor of the St Petersburg Conservatory, a collector of Ukrainian folksongs, and from the same town as Repin in the Kharkiv area; Sirko was Repin's friend the wily but good-humoured General Mykhailo Drahomirov, commander of the Kyiv garrison and a protector of nationally conscious Ukrainian activists; the Cossack in the black Sahaidachny hat was the enormously rich Cossack enthusiast V.V. Tarnovsky; the Cossack putting his fist on the back of another Cossack was the painter Ya.F. Tsionhlynsky; another Cossack was the artist from Poltava P.D. Martynovych; and the scribe was Yavornytsky himself. Rubets, moreover, was the first composer to rework the famous Ukrainian folksong Zasvystaly kozachenki (The Cossacks Whistled) into an orchestral and choral piece.
In some ways, perhaps, Repin's happy Zaporozhians mirror the spirit of that particular song. 27In his memoirs, Yavornytsky writes about what lengths he and Repin went to to obtain proper models for the painting. They decided that Geor- gii Alekseev, an official of the tsar's court, a coin collector, a man who held imperial decorations, and an honorary citizen of Ekaterinoslav in the old Cossack country (today Dniepropetrovsk in central Ukraine) was an excellent candidate. However, when Repin approached Alekseev, he was shocked and even a bit offended, exclaiming: “What is this? What kind of laughter are you leaving for future generations? No!” Yavornytsky therefore worked out a clever strategy. One day he invited Alekseev over to Repin's home to see his extensive collection of old coins that he had loaned him especially for the purpose. Unaware of the plan, Alekseev came over, and while he was poring intently over the coins, Repin quietly sketched him from behind. In the painting, he is that impressive Cossack with the shaved head and bare back turned towards the viewer.28