Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks
Ilya Repin · 1890
Why it's great
According to legend, a band of Cossack warriors received an insulting demand from the Turkish sultan to surrender, and they responded with a joke-filled, rude letter. Repin shows them roaring with laughter as the scribe writes. It took him over a decade, and the laughing faces are so lively you can almost hear them. It's beloved in Ukraine and Russia for its humor and spirit.
Where to see it
📍 Russian MuseumSaint Petersburg, Russia
Open in Maps ↗ About this museum →Hang it on your wall
Three places to look for a print of this painting, from budget to museum-grade:
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Ilya Repin was born in a small town in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire. He trained in Saint Petersburg and traveled to Paris before becoming Russia's most celebrated realist painter. He lived much of his later life in a country house near the Finnish border, now a museum. His huge paintings of people, history, and ordinary life made him a national treasure.
