Drawing “Savior in a crown of thorns”, created in 1906, is a sketch of an icon for the Cathedral of the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos – the regimental church of the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, built in 1837-1842 according to the project of Konstantin Ton in St. Petersburg. The icon case with the image was installed on a marble tomb in which the remains of three Semyonovites who died during the suppression of unrest in Moscow in December 1905, and the commander of the Semyonovsky regiment, Major General G.A. Mine, killed in a terrorist attack in August 1906. The cathedral was destroyed in 1933, and a public garden was laid out in its place. After 1934, the image of the Savior in the Crown of Thorns is considered lost.

Four photocopies were made from the drawing (the original is kept in the Vyatka Art Museum named after V.M. and A.M. Vasnetsovs), the exhibited copy – one of them – was donated to V.M. Vasnetsov to the artist S.V. Malyutin, as a token of gratitude and recognition for the creation of his portrait. In the lower right corner there is an inscription made by V.M. Vasnetsov: “Sincerely and deeply respected Sergei Vasilyevich Malyutin – V. Vasnetsov 1915 October 27.” S. Malyutin admired V. Vasnetsov, his creative credo, adherence to principles and consistency. He accompanied the completed portrait with the words: “A handsome man in everything!” Now this portrait is kept in the collection of the Vyatka Art Museum named after V.M. I am. Vasnetsov. In December 1920, a photocopy with an autograph of Viktor Vasnetsov was donated to the Voronezh Museum of Local Lore by Sergei Malyutin. The gift was passed on through Yuri Ivanovich Uspensky, a collector and museum worker.

You can get acquainted with the work with a ticket to the permanent exhibition of the museum.

The exhibition will be available from 10 to 28 November 2021.