“Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks” by Ilya Repin. The canvas is 6’8” x 11’9”, was started in 1880 and finished in 1891. It depicts the Cossacks in revelry writing a reply to Mehmed IV, trying to come up with better and better insults. Wikipedia: “Alexander III bought the painting for 35,000 rubles, at the time the greatest sum ever paid for a Russian painting. Since then, the canvas has been exhibited in the State Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg.”
With many groups beginning to stand up to authority around the world, I thought it worth mentioning the story of the Cossacks, a group that lived around what is now Ukraine and who are said to have written a reply to a letter from the leader of the Ottoman Empire, Mehmed IV in 1676. In the letter they told Mehmed to get bent, though in much more flowery language. Maybe those standing up to power today will take heart from the example of the Cossacks, maybe even sending the same letter to their current leaders.
From Wikipedia (bold mine): “In the 19th century, the historical Zaporozhian Cossacks were sometimes the subject of picturesque tales demonstrating admiration of their primitive vitality and contemptuous disregard for authority.”
“According to the story, the Cossacks, inhabiting the lands around the lower Dnieper River in Ukraine, had defeated Ottoman Empire forces in battle. However, Mehmed demanded that the Cossacks submit to Ottoman rule. The Cossacks, led by Ivan Sirko, replied in a characteristic manner; they wrote a letter, replete with insults and profanities. The painting exhibits the Cossacks’ pleasure at striving to come up with ever more base vulgarities.”
Letter to the Cossacks:
Continue reading “The Spirit of the Cossacks”