Firs Sergeyevich Zhuravlyov, *The Coachman’s Return Home*, 1868

The title suggests the head of the family has just returned to his native village after a long “business trip” and found his wife pregnant. He hasn’t quite decided what to do, but he’s already taken half a step toward his unfaithful wife. The handkerchief he brought her as a gift is clenched in his fist.

His elderly mother holds him back, seemingly crying, “Come to your senses, son! She’s about to give birth—think of the child…” The guilty woman stands before him like a criminal awaiting an inevitable sentence. A little one clings to the hem of the grandmother’s skirt, frightened by his angry father and unable to understand what’s happening.

And the grandfather, most likely anticipating this visit, has fetched a shovel and is waiting to see how things unfold—“just in case…”

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