Perov’s Easter Procession

Vasily Perov (1834-82) was one of the leaders of the “Critical Realism” movement in Russia, which objected to the obligatory mythological pictures dictated by the Academy.

Unlike in western Europe, where rebellions against the Academy led toward aestheticism, the Russian rebels took their art in another direction. They were interested in a brand of realism that squarely confronted the ills of their society, denouncing the hypocracies and follies of their times.

Easter Procession (1861) is a good example (Click on image to enlarge). Dmitri Sarabianov, author of Russian Art describes the painting in this way:

“The procession, which includes a drunken priest, a woman gaping mindlessly with an icon in her hand, an old man holding an icon upside down, and similar characters, passes before the observer almost parallel to the plane of the picture.”

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Perov on Wikipedia