Pahivanie - Grigory Grigoryevich Myasoedov. 78x134
The picture is a very rare image of the oldest Slavic rite, which was carried out by peasants during the death of cattle.
An unmarried girl, followed by the women of the village, pulls the plow. The meaning of the rite is to conduct a circular furrow through which cow death cannot jump.
In the glare of the fire, the faces of the characters look full of mystical horror. As if they knew a great mystery, the participants in the procession reached its climax.
The figure of the sorceress - the leader, the manager of the ritual, is placed by the artist with his back to the viewer. This image is recognizable only by special clothing.
Fire is a great purifier. And here, all the attention of the participants of the ritual is riveted in it.
In the distance, the horizon brightens, announcing the approach of morning. In the morning twilight, the figures of all the participants in the rite are more likely to be guessed.
The unlimited faith in the beneficial effects of the ancient ritual fills the picture, creating an atmosphere of hope, trust in higher powers, unknowable, but revered by hundreds of generations.
