The Spirit of the Cossacks
“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 …