“The Three Princesses of the Underworld,” 1879–1881
Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848–1926)

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Oil on canvas, 152.7 × 165.2 cm

Commissioned by industrialist and arts patron Savva Mamontov for a boardroom, the painting was one of three fairy-tale visions of the Donetsk region’s awakening prosperity. Vasnetsov depicted its mineral wealth through three princesses: mistresses of gold, precious stones, and coal.

The board rejected the paintings as unsuitable for an office. Mamontov bought “The Flying Carpet” and “The Battle of the Scythians and the Slavs”; this work entered his brother Anatoly’s collection, then belonged to collector Mikhail Morozov. His will left it to the Tretyakov Gallery.

canvas echoes