Art Chowder March | April 2018, Issue 14 | Page 45

Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902)
Dance Among the Swords
1887
oil on canvas
47 1/4 x 225”
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
There are several versions of the painting. One, entitled The Sword Dance, which sold at Sothebey’s
in 2011,and measures 31 x 61”. It went for $2,098,500, far above the high estimate of $800,000.00
Henryk Siemiradzki (1843-1902)
Christ and a Sinner
1875
oil on canvas
138 x 216 1/2”
Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
An example of the artist’s ease in moving between both pagan and Christian subjects can be seen by comparing his Dance Among the Swords 5
and Christ and a Sinner. Both pictures are similar with their wide horizontal formats. The former, a strictly pagan subject, is presented with no
hint of moral critique, while the latter portrays a dramatic moment in the life of the woman in yellow and purple who has just dropped her cup
of wine. The source for the picture is not strictly biblical; it’s an apocryphal event derived from a poem by A. K. Tolstoy (a second cousin of
Leo Tolstoy) entitled “The Sinner” (1857), and represents the first meeting between Jesus of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene.
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