The subject of Sadko is from a bylina—an oral epic poem—recorded in north-western Russia. The merchant and musician Sadko has been brought to the realm of the Sea Tsarto give a performance. After the Sea Tsar has danced to his music—causing a devastating storm in the process—Sadko is asked to choose one of the tsar’s mermaid daughters to take as his wife. Following the advice of a saint, Sadko refuses three times three hundred daughters before accepting the last one, Chernavushka. Repin painted Sadko to the right, overlooking a procession of half-human, half-aquatic women who pass by; the rejected mermaids at the front look disappointed. Chernavushka appears behind everybody else and glances toward the man. The image composition is made with a worm’s-eye view and a high horizon.
Ukrainian Woman (1876)![](https://lemm.ee/api/v3/image_proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F2%2F24%2F%25D0%25A0%25D0%25B5%25D0%25BF%25D0%25B8%25D0%25BD._%25D0%25A3%25D0%25BA%25D1%2580%25D0%25B0%25D0%25B8%25D0%25BD%25D0%25BA%25D0%25B0_%25D1%2583_%25D0%25BF%25D0%25BB%25D0%25B5%25D1%2582%25D0%25BD%25D1%258F.jpg)