''Crucifixus'' is a 1884 painting by Russian artist

Nikolai Ge Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge (; – ) was a Russian painter who was influential in the development of Russian symbolism. He was famous for his works on historical and religious subjects. Early life Nikolai Nikolaevich Ge was born on in Voron ...

. It is housed in the collection of the Museum of Don Cossacks,

Novocherkassk Novocherkassk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located near the confluence of the Tuzlov and Aksay Rivers, the latter a distributary of the Don (river), Don River. Novocherkassk is best known as the ...

, where it forms part of the permanent exhibition at the Ataman Palace. Researchers believe that the painting was commissioned by an unidentified

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

church. The painting was acquired by the museum prior to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and during the 1970s, it was included in the exhibition of paintings by painters of the Society for Travelling Art Exhibitions. ''Crucifixius'' drew the attention of art historians and culturologists in 2011, when the

State Tretyakov Gallery The State Tretyakov Gallery (; abbreviated ГТГ, ''GTG'') is an art gallery in Moscow, Russia, which is considered the foremost depository of Russian fine art in the world. The gallery's history starts in 1856 when the Muscovite merchant Pavel ...

prepared the exhibition, "What is Truth?'. Nikolai Ge. To the 180th anniversary of his birth." The canvas was subjected to

infrared spectroscopy Infrared spectroscopy (IR spectroscopy or vibrational spectroscopy) is the measurement of the interaction of infrared radiation with matter by absorption, emission, or reflection. It is used to study and identify chemical substances or functio ...

, the paint layer and

ground Ground may refer to: Geology * Land, the solid terrestrial surface of the Earth * Soil, a mixture of clay, sand and organic matter present on the surface of the Earth Electricity * Ground (electricity), the reference point in an electrical circ ...

were chemically analysed, and archival documents were lifted. A group of researchers presented a report on the painting at an international scientific conference in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, held concurrently with the exhibition (the conference materials were published in 2014). In 2012, the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

''Russkoye Iskusstvo'' published a comprehensive article on the subject of ''Crucifixus''. The article was authored by Tatiana Karpova, a Doctor of Art History, and Lidia Gladkova, Head of the Department of Scientific Expertise of the State Tretyakov Gallery. In 2011-2012, the discovery of a new painting by Nikolai Ge was widely discussed in the Russian

press Press may refer to: Media * Publisher * News media * Printing press, commonly called "the press" * Press TV, an Iranian television network Newspapers United States * ''The Press'', a former name of ''The Press-Enterprise'', Riverside, California ...

. Articles devoted to the painting were published in leading central and regional print media. These include both business and socio-political publications, as well as tabloids: ''

Rossiyskaya Gazeta ' () is a Russian newspaper published by the Government of Russia. History ''Rossiyskaya Gazeta'' was founded in 1990 by the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR during the ''glasnost'' reforms in Soviet Union, shortl ...

'', ''

Moskovskij Komsomolets ''Moskovskij Komsomolets'' (''MK''; ) is a Moscow-based daily newspaper with a circulation approaching one million, covering general news. Founded in 1919, it is famed for its topical reporting on Russian politics and society. History The news ...

'', ''

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

'', ''

Argumenty i Fakty (, commonly abbreviated "АиФ" and translated as ''Arguments and Facts'') is a weekly newspaper based in Moscow and a publishing house in Russia and worldwide. Since 2014, it has been owned by the Government of Moscow. History and profile It ...

''...

Description

The painting is currently housed in the Museum of Don Cossacks in

. It is displayed in the permanent exposition on the first floor of the Ataman Palace. The painting is a vertically elongated rectangle measuring 195 × 140 cm in a simple wooden frame painted black. The technique used is

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

canvas Canvas is an extremely durable Plain weave, plain-woven Cloth, fabric used for making sails, tents, Tent#Marquees and larger tents, marquees, backpacks, Shelter (building), shelters, as a Support (art), support for oil painting and for other ite ...

. The image is based on an episode from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

concerning the execution of

Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

. The action takes place on a low hill called

Golgotha Calvary ( or ) or Golgotha () was a site immediately outside Jerusalem's walls where, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, Jesus was crucified. Since at least the early medieval period, it has been a destination for pilgrimage. ...

(translated from the

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

as 'The Throne Room'). Christ is depicted as already dead. His body remains

crucified Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the condemned is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross, beam or stake and left to hang until eventual death. It was used as a punishment by the Achaemenid Empire, Persians, Carthaginians, ...

on a large wooden cross against the backdrop of a seashore, sea, and sky. A plaque above Christ's head abbreviates the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

inscription " Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews". The Gospels of Luke and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

mention the three languages in which the inscription was made, while the Gospels of

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

and

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

only mention the inscription itself, without mentioning the three languages. The painting lacks the characters mentioned in the Gospels who were present at the execution:

Mary, mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

Mary of Clopas According to the Gospel of John, Mary of Clopas (, ''María hē tou Clōpá'') was one of the women present at the crucifixion of Jesus and bringing supplies for his funeral. The expression ''Mary of Clopas'' in the Greek text is ambiguous as t ...

Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...

, two robbers crucified on either side of Christ, the

legionaries The ancient Rome, Roman legionary (in Latin ''legionarius''; : ''legionarii'') was a citizen soldier of the Roman army. These soldiers would conquer and defend the territories of ancient Rome during the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Republic and ...

who "guarded" the cross and "scolded" Christ, the people, some "passers-by" who "cursed" Christ during the execution, and the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

sotnik Sotnik or sotnyk (; ; ) was a military rank among the Cossack starshyna (military officers), the Russian ''streltsy'' and Cossack cavalry, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, the Ukrainian Galician Army, and the Ukrainian People's Army. Administrative ...

Longinus Longinus (Greek: Λογγίνος) is the name of the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Jesus with a lance, who in apostolic and some modern Christian traditions is described as a convert to Christianity. His name first appeared in the apoc ...

and

John the Theologian John of Patmos (also called John the Revelator, John the Divine, John the Theologian; ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Book of Revelation. Revelation 1:9 states that John was on Patmos, an Aegean island off the coast of Ro ...

, who are not mentioned in the Gospels but are considered by Christian tradition to be witnesses of Jesus' death. The time of the painting is the last rays of the setting sun. The artist's signature and the date of creation of the canvas are inscribed in the lower right corner of one of the stones, reading "N. Ge. 1884".

Discovery

The Museum of Don Cossacks in

has a significant collection of Russian

visual art The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and texti ...

, but the works of

are not mentioned in the guidebooks published during the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

era, either as part of the museum's exhibition or in its storerooms. In October 2011, the newspaper ''

'' reported that experts from the

were working on the funds of the Museum of

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (, ) or Donians (, ), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don River (Russia), Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (, ), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic rep ...

in the city of Novocherkassk to determine the authenticity of the painting ''Crucifixus'' by Nikolai Ge.

experts told the newspaper's correspondent that until 2011 Russian art historians had not recognised ''Crucifixus'' as the work of Nikolai Ge. However, the museum's records still list the painting as a creation by this artist. At the time of the article's publication, the attribution process was expected to take several weeks. In 2012 and 2014, expert reports were published in the form of articles in scientific publications, which showed that during the preparation of the exhibition What is Truth?' Nikolai Ge. To the 180th anniversary of his birth'' (2011–2012), a painting almost unknown even to experts of the artist's work was discovered in the resources of the Museum of Don Cossacks. It was a large vertical ''Crucifixus''. What prompted specialists to study the canvas was the discovery in the archive of Polina Chernyshyova, daughter of the Soviet artist Nikolai Chernyshyov, of a letter from the director of this museum, Leonid Sholokhov, to Chernyshyov, dated 17 April 1961. It was a response to the artist's enquiry about the painting ''Crucifixus'' by Nikolai Ge, which Chernyshyov had been informed could be in the museum. The letter from Sholokhov confirmed that the museum indeed possessed the painting in question, which was signed by Nikolai Ge. Its dimensions were given as 195 × 140 cm. The work was dated 1884 by the artist himself. Sholokhov reported that the painting had come to the museum in the 1920s from an unknown "lutheran church or catholic church." The letter from the museum director was accompanied by a black and white photograph of ''Crucifixus'' (some sources claim that there were two such photographs attached to the letter). The staff of the Novocherkassk museum reported the presence of the ''Crucifixus'' in the museum's holdings in response to a request from the organisers of an exhibition of works by Nikolai Ge in Moscow to confirm the information obtained from Sholokhov's letter. Two articles were published bearing the same title, "Nikolai Ge's 'Crucifixus' from Novocherkassk". One was published in the magazine ''Russkoye Iskusstvo'' in 2012, and the second was published under the auspices of the State Institute of Art History in 2014. The authors of the articles presented a report at an international conference in Moscow, which proposed that Chernyshev may have obtained information about the painting from Mikhail Teplov, an officer and amateur artist who was a student of Ge and the author of memoirs about him (the collective report of the researchers involved in the scientific expertise was read out on 30 January 2012 at the conference 'N. N. Ge. To the 180th anniversary of his birth' in the Tretyakov Gallery). From 1884 to 1888, during the creation of ''Crucifixus'', Teplov lived on a

khutor A khutor ( ; rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir (, ) is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.Museum of Arts of Uzbekistan in

Tashkent Tashkent (), also known as Toshkent, is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uzbekistan, largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of more than 3 million people as of April 1, 2024. I ...

houses a portrait of Teplov, created by Nikolai Ge in 1885. Chernyshev encountered Teplov in Tashkent during the

evacuation Evacuation or Evacuate may refer to: * Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), patient evacuation in combat situations * Casualty movement, the procedure for moving a casualty from its initial location to an ambulance * Emergency evacuation, removal of pers ...

in 1941.

Debate on authorship

The hypothesis that Nikolai Ge was the author of the painting from Novocherkassk had yet to be proven. Following the conclusion of the exhibition, entitled ''What is Truth? Nikolai Ge. On the 180th anniversary of his birth'', and the international scientific conference that accompanied it, the correspondence between the museum, as well as another photograph of the painting were discovered in the archive of Natalia Zograf, a Soviet art historian who curated the exhibition of Nikolai Ge in 1970-1971. On 16 December 1965, O.E. Voronina, deputy director of the museum for the scientific part, wrote to Zograf (with the

punctuation Punctuation marks are marks indicating how a piece of writing, written text should be read (silently or aloud) and, consequently, understood. The oldest known examples of punctuation marks were found in the Mesha Stele from the 9th century BC, c ...

of the original preserved), as follows: The letter was accompanied by a copy of a reply from the Research Museum of the Academy of Arts of the USSR, dated 7 May 1964, signed by the head of the painting department, L. F. Galich. In her written response, the art historian stated that, based on the provided photograph, the painting in question does not appear to be the work of Ge. She presented two arguments to support this assertion: firstly, that Ge did not address the theme of the crucifixion in the 1880s and created a markedly different representation of Christ in the 1890s. Secondly, the canvas displays the characteristics of an

Altarpiece An altarpiece is a painting or sculpture, including relief, of religious subject matter made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting or sculpture, ...

. It can be reasonably assumed that Nicholas Ge created this work for an

Orthodox church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church, the second-largest Christian church in the world * Oriental Orthodox Churches, a branch of Eastern Christianity * Orthodox Presbyterian Church, a confessional Presbyterian denomination loc ...

, but in this case the image of Christ would have to be more "

canonical The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical exampl ...

". Thirdly, it is challenging to ascertain the artist's identity solely from the photograph, as the canvas's colour scheme is not discernible. Galich formulated her conclusion as follows: "On the whole, the thing raises great doubt that it was painted by Ge". Natalia Zograf was never able to view the painting in the Museum of Don Cossacks in person. While compiling a catalogue of the artist's paintings, she did not include the ''Crucifixus'' from Novocherkassk not only among the originals, but even among the works that are open to question by art historians. In the autumn of 2011, Tatiana Karpova, the curator of the exhibition What is Truth?'. Nikolai Ge. To the 180th anniversary of his birth'', together with members of the Expertise Department of the

(Lidia Gladkova, Tatiana Rustamova and Vladimir Voronov), undertook an analysis of the painting during a visit to Novocherkassk. The collected material was subjected to a comparative analysis with the paintings identified as etalon works in the oeuvre of Nikolai Ge. The researchers concluded that the artist was indeed the author of the paintings in question. In their two publications and in a speech delivered at a scientific forum in Moscow, the experts presented a detailed account of their arguments. An analysis of the infrared radiation spectrum revealed a multitude of alterations on the painting, predominantly pertaining to the positioning of the figure of Jesus Christ. In particular, the figure was shifted to the right. The changes also affected the shape of the hands and the bending of the arms at the elbows. The artist peeled off the original image of Christ's face rather than painting a new one over it, as he had done with all the other details. The width of the crossbar was reduced. Changes were made to the column, the outline of the inscription '

INRI In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the King of the Jews, both at the beginning of his life and at the end. In the Koine Hellenic of the New Testament, e.g., in John 19:3, this is written as ''Basileus ton Ioudaion'' (). Both uses o ...

' on the tablet above Christ's head and the cloth on his thighs. The presence of authorial changes on the canvas is a defining characteristic of Nikolai Ge's creative handwriting, according to researchers. Additionally, researchers have identified another indicator of Nikolai Ge's authorship on the painting, namely the combination of fragments "loaded with colour paste" and the

that is barely covered with paint. A resemblance to Ge's painting ''In the

Garden of Gethsemane Gethsemane ( ) is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, where, according to the four Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus Christ underwent the Agony in the Garden and was arrested before his crucifixion. The garden is ...

'' was discerned in the portrayal of facial features, including the nose, eye sockets, brow arches, distribution of light and shadow, the form and direction of movement of strokes, the manner of depicting strands of hair in texture and colour, and the depiction of stones. There are similarities with the painting ''What is Truth? Christ and Pilate'' in the peculiarities of the construction of the

wrists In human anatomy, the wrist is variously defined as (1) the carpus or carpal bones, the complex of eight bones forming the proximal skeletal segment of the hand; "The wrist contains eight bones, roughly aligned in two rows, known as the carpal ...

and hands of the figures, as well as in the representation of the background (the colouring of the landscape at the feet of Christ in the ''Crucifixus'' and the section of the wall between the figures of

Pontius Pilate Pontius Pilate (; ) was the Roman administration of Judaea (AD 6–135), fifth governor of the Judaea (Roman province), Roman province of Judaea, serving under Emperor Tiberius from 26/27 to 36/37 AD. He is best known for being the official wh ...

and Jesus Christ coincide). The forged nails with round caps are similar to those in the ''Crucifixion'' of 1892. The similarity with Ge's paintings is also evident in the colour scheme of the ''Crucifixus'' of 1884. Light highlights are covered by thin "swipes" of

ochres Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...

and blues. The colours in the painting include

white lead White lead is the basic lead carbonate 2PbCO3·Pb(OH)2. It is a complex Salt (chemistry), salt, containing both carbonate and hydroxide ions. White lead occurs naturally as a mineral, in which context it is known as hydrocerussite, a hydrate of ...

zinc white Zinc white is an inorganic pigment composed of zinc oxide that has been used by painters since the late eighteenth century. Alongside lead and titanium white, it is among the three most prominent white pigments that are commercially available to ...

(in admixtures), blue

cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. ...

, brown and red ochre, mercury and yellow

zinc Zinc is a chemical element; it has symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodic tabl ...

cinnabar Cinnabar (; ), or cinnabarite (), also known as ''mercurblende'' is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of Mercury sulfide, mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining mercury (element), elemental mercury and is t ...

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

and black organic

pigment A pigment is a powder used to add or alter color or change visual appearance. Pigments are completely or nearly solubility, insoluble and reactivity (chemistry), chemically unreactive in water or another medium; in contrast, dyes are colored sub ...

. Most of them were actively used by Nikolai Ge in various combinations. The chemical composition of the colours in the 1884 Novocherkassk painting does not contradict the date on the canvas. The ground is single-layer, but its composition is the same as the two-layer ground used by the artist in ''Portrait of Shestova with Her Daughter'' and ''In the Garden of Gethsemane''. The artist's signature "N. Ge. 1884", in the lower right-hand corner of the painting, is written on the dry layer of paint and has a

craquelure Craquelure (; ) is a fine pattern of dense cracking formed on the surface of materials. It can be a result of drying, shock, aging, intentional patterning, or a combination of all four. The term is most often used to refer to tempera or oil pain ...

character in common with other areas of the canvas. It corresponds to the artist's autographs. A significant number of works by Nikolai Ge feature black, simple frames, as exemplified by the ''Crucifixus''. Additionally, the doctor and biographer of Leo Tolstoy, Dusan Makovitsky, claimed that Ge "saved up" on frames. The composition of the painting is similar to that of Ge's drawing of the

Crucifixion of Jesus The crucifixion of Jesus was the death of Jesus by being crucifixion, nailed to a cross.The instrument of Jesus' crucifixion, instrument of crucifixion is taken to be an upright wooden beam to which was added a transverse wooden beam, thus f ...

, which is part of the collection of Christoph Bohlmann and is currently held by the State Tretyakov Gallery. The authors explain the stylistic differences with the work of Nikolai Ge, which are present yet unidentified in the collective articles of 2012 and 2014, by the unusual purpose of the canvas. The painting was to be housed in a non-Orthodox church. Additionally, the artist may have been bound by conditions of the order that are unknown to us. Among these conditions, there could be an orientation to a sample of a

Western European Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

master. The authors of the article hypothesise that this sample may be a painting by the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

artist

Léon Bonnat Léon Joseph Florentin Bonnat (; 20 June 1833 – 8 September 1922) was a French painter, Grand Officer of the Légion d'honneur, art collector and professor at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. Early life Bonnat was born in Bayonne, but from 1846 to 1853 ...

from 1874, which is held in the

Petit Palais The (; ) is an art museum in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France. Built for the Exposition Universelle (1900), 1900 Exposition Universelle ("universal exhibition"), it now houses the City of Paris Museum of Fine Arts (''Musée des beaux-arts ...

Museum in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. In this painting, the crucified Christ is depicted against the backdrop of the sea. Both paintings also share the position of Christ's feet and the characteristic sunset lighting. File:Nikolay Ge 011.jpeg, Portrait of Shestova and her daughter, 1859 File:Peter the Great Interrogating the Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich detail4.jpg, Signature of Nikolai Ge and date in the lower right corner of the painting ''

Peter the Great Interrogating the Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich at Peterhof The painting ''Peter the Great Interrogating the Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich at Peterhof'' was created by the Russian artist Nikolai Ge (1831–1894) and completed in 1871. The painting is stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow (Inventory 2 ...

'', 1871 File:Распятие из собрания Больмана.png, ''Crucifixus'' from the collection of Christoph Bohlmann, date unknown File:Nikolay Ge 021.jpeg, In the Garden of Gethsemane, between 1869 and 1880 File:What is truth.jpg, ''What is truth? Christ before Pilate'', 1890 File:Leon Bonnat - The Crucifixion.jpg,

. ''The Crucifixion'', 1874

History of creation

The pre-war documentation of the Museum of Don Cossacks and the materials of the Novocherkassk city archive, which could have provided insight into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Nikolai Ge's painting, have not survived. They were destroyed during World War II, when the city was occupied by Nazi troops. A review of the correspondence of Nikolai Ge, along with the memoirs of his contemporaries, reveals no direct references to the history of creation or the existence of the canvas entitled ''Crucifixus'' from the collection of the Museum of Don Cossacks. However, there is indirect evidence suggesting that the artist commenced work on this theme in 1884. A letter from the artist to

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

, dated 28 February 1884, contains the following lines: "I have composed paintings that you would approve of. One is terrible: the execution of Christ on the cross, the other is the beginning, a premonition of the coming suffering. I can neither feel nor understand anything else." The authors of the collective articles, "'Crucifixus' by Nikolai Ge from Novocherkassk", posit that this letter pertains to the initial iterations of Ge's paintings, ''Crucifixus'' and ''Golgotha''. There is also a description of one of the variants of the ''Crucifixus'' created by Nikolai Ge in 1884, which, according to the authors of the articles, is comparable in some aspects to the Novocherkassk canvas. This ''Crucifixus'' was later destroyed by the artist himself. The description belongs to the Russian watercolourist Ekaterina Junge: "On one visit I saw his almost completely finished painting Crucifixus n the text of the original without inverted commas In painting and drawing, it seems to me, it was the best of his paintings. The background consisted of the wall of the city and raised by a blizzard, somehow ominously illuminated yellow sand; the body of Christ, raised high on the cross and wonderfully painted in grey halftones, stood out in relief against the light, warm background and seemed to step out of the frame. There were no robbers - only parts of their crosses were visible. Below the rock on which the Cross stood, to the left of the picture, one could see a sea of the heads of the scattered people and

, who, clutching the rock with her hands, lifted herself up on them, and could not tear herself away from the sight that stupefied her... There was nothing spiritual left on that face - it was a moment of death, an agonising death - and nothing else." This version of the ''Crucifixus'' was destroyed by Nikolai Ge in 1885. The assumption that the painting came from a non-Orthodox temple was supported by the authors of the 2014 collective article. They saw indirect confirmation of this in the presence of drops of wax on the canvas. Given the assumption that the ''Crucifixus'' could have come from a Catholic or a Lutheran church, the researchers tried to determine what kind of church it was. There was a

church in

, but it was not built until 1898. In

Rostov-on-Don Rostov-on-Don is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East European Plain on the Don River, from the Sea of Azov, directly north of t ...

, on the other hand, the Lutheran congregation had existed since 1856, but the foundation stone of the church was only laid in 1885. The building was only consecrated in 1888. At present there are no documents describing its interior. The researchers concluded that it is not yet possible to say definitively that the painting was commissioned by a particular church. The painting's ecclesiastical commission should not be questioned, and the previously held view that Ge never worked for ecclesiastical commissions is incorrect.

Art historians and culturologists about the canvas

In their 2014 article, the authors highlight the distinctive characteristics of the landscape depicted in the painting, including the dark night with the glow of sunset, the smoothness of the sea and the moonlight over the rocky shore. They argue that these elements collectively evoke a " symbolic supra-worldly image." Lubov Petrunina, a candidate of philosophy and senior researcher at the State Tretyakov Gallery, in her article "Nikolai Ge's exhibition 'What is Truth?' in the perception of the public" noted that the public's attention in connection with the exhibition of Ge's paintings in Moscow in 2011-2012 was offered "a twist of an almost

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads the ...

story concerning the fate of Nikolai Ge's creative heritage" - the discovery of the ''Crucifixus'' in the funds of the Novocherkassk Museum. The staff of the Tretyakov Gallery confirmed the artist's authorship on the basis of "radiological and scientific research". In the end, the gallery's attribution committee decided to add the painting to the artist's

Passion Passion, the Passion or the Passions may refer to: Emotion * Passion (emotion), a very strong feeling about a person or thing * Passions (philosophy), emotional states as used in philosophical discussions * Stoic passions, various forms of emotio ...

series. Petrunina noted wryly that "this event made it possible to keep Nikolai Ge's name in the orbit of public attention for a while longer." In an article for the journal ''

Nauka i Zhizn ''Nauka i Zhizn'' (''Science and Life'', ) is a science magazine first issued during the years 1890–1900 in Russian Empire, and then since 1934 in the Soviet Union (and continued in the Russian Federation today). See also *Tekhnika Molodezhi ...

'', Zinaida Korotkova, a teacher at the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum of the

Russian Academy of Arts Russian Academy of Arts (RAA / rus. РАХ, Росси́йская акаде́мия худо́жеств) is the State scientific Institution of Russian Federation, eligible heir to the USSR Academy of Arts. A founder of RAA is the Governmen ...

and an artist, observed that the principal documents pertaining to the life and work of Nikolai Ge have already been incorporated into the scientific corpus. Consequently, the likelihood of a significant discovery in this area is exceedingly low. It is not known how Chernyshev reacted to receiving the letter about the ''Crucifixus''. The author of the article assumes that he went to Novocherkassk immediately. The painting ''Crucifixus'' had already been exhibited once in Moscow at the exhibition of the

Peredvizhniki Peredvizhniki (, ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realism (arts), realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restrictions; it evolved into the ''Society for Trave ...

, but at that time it did not arouse much interest among experts. Subsequently, the painting was returned to the Museum of Don Cossacks. Sholokhov's letter was archived and remained unexamined until preparations for an exhibition of Nikolai Ge's paintings in Moscow in 2011-2012 prompted a re-examination of the material. The researchers of the painting observed that the canvas has already been the subject of

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publications and, in accordance with the hypothesis of Zinaida Korotkova, it will subsequently be exhibited not only in the

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but also abroad. Following the exhibition What is Truth?'. Nikolai Ge. To the 180th anniversary of his birth'', held in Moscow, an exhibition of the painting ''Crusifixus'' was organised in Novocherkassk. In March 2012, the Rostov newspaper ''Nashe Vremya'' published an article on the painting in connection with a demonstration of the ''Crucifixus'' at the Regional Museum of Fine Arts. It was an exhibition of "one painting" as well, accompanied by works from 19th-century graphic art, Old Russian iconography, and decorative and

applied art The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...

from the 18th and 19th centuries. In 2016, Nikolai Ge's painting was the focal point of the temporary exhibition, ''Faces of Holy Faith and Love'', held at the Museum of Don Cossacks. The exhibition included Orthodox icons and paintings unified by the concept of

repentance Repentance is reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past or present wrongdoings, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen ...

during the

Great Lent Great Lent, or the Great Fast (Greek language, Greek: Μεγάλη Τεσσαρακοστή, ''Megali Tessarakosti'' or Μεγάλη Νηστεία, ''Megali Nisteia'', meaning "Great 40 Days", and "Great Fast", respectively), is the most impor ...

, during which the exhibition was held. Additionally, it showcased church antiquities, 19th-century portraits, including those of priests and

martyrs A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

, and photographs of the

Nekrasov Cossacks Nekrasov Cossacks, Nekrasovite Cossacks, Nekrasovites, Nekrasovtsy () descend from those Don Cossacks who, after the defeat of the Bulavin Rebellion of 1707–1708, fled to the Kuban in September 1708, headed by Ignat Nekrasov, hence their nam ...

In the mass media

In 2011-2012, the Russian press engaged in lively discussion surrounding the discovery of a new painting by Nikolai Ge. Articles pertaining to this topic were published in a number of prominent central and regional print media outlets, including ''

'', ''

'' and ''

''. The article in Moskovsky Komsomolets contains excerpts from interviews with Evgenia Svitliva, deputy director of the Novocherkassk Museum of Scientific Work, Tatiana Karpova, Doctor of Art History, and Victoria Naumenko, the chief curator of the Museum of Don Cossacks, who provide insights into the history of the discovery of the painting by Nikolai Ge, which were not included in the scientific publications devoted to it. In particular, it has been reported that Polina Chernyshyova, the daughter of the artist Nikolai Chernyshyov, extended an invitation to the researchers preparing the exhibition in Moscow to get acquainted with a photograph of Ge's studio on the farm Ivanovskoye near Rostov-on-Don, where he lived from 1876 to 1894. Furthermore, she presented a comprehensive folder of materials pertaining to the artist, which were stored in her father's archive, during a personal meeting with them. In the course of examining the documents contained in this folder, Tatyana Karpova came across a letter from the director of the Museum of Don Cossacks to Chernyshyov, which was dated 17 April 1961. The article specifies the date on which the canvas was exhibited at an exhibition dedicated to the Peredvizhniki, which took place in the 1970s. The article in Rossiyskaya Gazeta is based on an interview conducted by a correspondent with Lidia Gladkova, the head of the scientific expertise department at the State Tretyakov Gallery. She referenced the hypothesis posited during the examination of the painting, namely that the ''Crucifixus'' may represent the initial iteration of the painting ''Golgotha'', which is currently housed in the Tretyakov Gallery. Gladkova asserted that the painting had been exhibited at the Novocherkassk museum prior to the

Great Patriotic War The Eastern Front, also known as the Great Patriotic War (term), Great Patriotic War in the Soviet Union and its successor states, and the German–Soviet War in modern Germany and Ukraine, was a Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II ...

and that it had participated in an exhibition of works by the Peredvizhniki in the 1970s. At the time of the article's publication, chemical analysis of the soil confirmed the authenticity of the painting. A radiographic study was initially planned, but the Novocherkassk museum lacked the necessary equipment. Furthermore, transporting the painting to Moscow on specialised transport with security personnel would have been too expensive. It was anticipated that the personnel of the Tretyakov Gallery would transport a portable

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to Novocherkassk for a final examination. The Russian online news agency Life published an article about the discovery of the painting. It includes a statement by Elena Svetlykh, deputy director of the Novocherkassk museum, that before the recently discovered ''Crucifixus'', "Ge painted four similar subjects, only they were all sent to the oven"; she also noted that it was "a work of uncharacteristically large size for Ge." The article concludes by saying that, despite the good condition of the canvas, "in the near future the 'Crucifixus' will be sent for restoration." Nikolay Ge 041

The online edition of the

All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company The Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (RTR) or Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, also known as Russia Television and Radio, is a national State media, state-owned broadcaster which operates many television and ...

, known as Smotrim, published a detailed online message on its

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. The message, entitled 'Tretyakovka experts confirmed the authenticity of the painting "Crucifixus"', contains video footage (broadcast in 2011 on the Russian federal television channel,

Russia-24 Russia-24 () is a state-owned Russian-language news channel from Russia. It covers major national and international events and focuses on domestic issues. It is owned by VGTRK. History The broadcast began July 1, 2006 in Russia, February 7, 20 ...

), and a text recording of the final meeting of the expert commission in the Academic Council Hall of the State Tretyakov Gallery, at which Lidia Gladkova acted as the "

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

" and Tatiana Karpova as the "

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", as well as footage of experts examining the painting. The author of the article in Our Time, the journalist Marina Kaminskaya, formulated two main versions of the painting's appearance based on the opinions of researchers. According to the first ("from one of our

Don Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name * Don, Benin, a town in Benin * Don, Dang, a village and hill station in Dang district, Gu ...

artists I heard... an assumption..."), ''Crucifixus'' is one of the original versions of the widely known ''Crucifixion'' of 1892. Kaminskaya herself does not share this point of view: in the 1892 version and in other paintings of the Passion Cycle " here isa completely different vision of the image of the Saviour. Other feelings and emotions... There are no social connotations and the audacity of the author's interpretation. Only the sorrow and grief of the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

." According to another version, Ge painted ''Crucifixus'' for a Catholic church. This version is supported by the proportions of the painting, which is written to be viewed from the bottom of the canvas upwards, and by a fact from the artist's own biography: Nikolai Ge submitted his sketches to the competition for the painting of the

Cathedral of Christ the Saviour The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (, ) is a Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few hundred metres southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of , it is the ...

, but the commission rejected them. The journalist herself assumed that the artist intended the painting for one of the Catholic churches in

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, as "from the age of 45, Nicholas Ge lived and worked on an estate in Chernihivshchyna." In May 2020, the Museum of Don Cossacks produced a video programme dedicated to the painting by Nikolai Ge, which was subsequently uploaded to the museum's

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channel. The programme was presented by Evgeniya Sitlivaya, a researcher at the museum.

References

Bibliography

Scientific and popular science literature * * * Mass media * * * * * Guidebooks * * {{Cite book , title=Putevoditel. Muzey istorii donskogo kazachestva (Novocherkassk) , date=1969 , publisher=Knizhnoye izdatelstvo , location=

, language=ru , script-title=ru:Путеводитель. Музей истории донского казачества (Новочеркасск) , trans-title=A Guidebook. Museum of the History of the Don Cossacks (Novocherkassk) , ref=Путеводитель, 1969 1884 paintings Paintings by Nikolai Ge Paintings based on the New Testament Paintings of the Crucifixion of Jesus