Angel of Death Killing the Inhabitants of Egypt

Ilya Repin, one of the greatest Russian artists wrote about the creation of this painting:

"Every month, around a hundred sketches were presented at the Academic Sketch exam on the given topics, and, of course, the council considered that outstanding sketches were awarded with the best numbers and even medals on the final exam. According to the council’s decision, these sketches were specially chosen and suggested for more serious marks by their authors. Chosen sketches were taken to the inspector’s office, where the authors received them with the Council’s marks. […]

One day, the theme was: "Angel of Death killing the inhabitants of Egypt." Under the influence of denial, I decided to convey this story in a purely realistic way. Of course, the setting of the luxurious bedrooms of the Egyptian kings was studied, their beds were placed on platforms of several steps… And I imagined that an angel of death flew to a naked newborn at night, grabbed him by the throat, stuck his knee to the victim’s stomach and strangled him completely realistically with his hands.

My sketches have repeatedly been noticed by my friends, and this one aroused a lot of interest when they saw it, but many people repeated: "However, for this one you will get for this; the sketch will probably be taken to the inspector’s office."

That’s exactly what happened. The entire series of sketches (seven pieces) was taken down, and mine are among them. I had to go to the inspector’s office to be explained and admonished. The biggest punishment for me would have been if I had been transferred to an external study. I was afraid even to go to the inspector and put it off.

I finally came to him. Alexander Polyakov, the inspector’s assistant, kindly met me. “Forgot”— I thought. I put out a prepared question about my sketch, that was taken from the exam.

“Didn’t you know? The Council was interested in your sketch, and you are allowed to continue it for a medal. Here it is. Well, of course, you are going to recompose a scene that is too realistic. After all, it’s spirit- the angel of death, why would he physically strain his muscles so much to strangle him, stretched out hands is enough. But you should think about it yourself, you are completely free to interpret as you like, the way you see it. I'm just passing on to you the opinion of the council. The Council approved the tone of the sketch and overall very much.” “Overall” was appreciated at the time.

And I completed this sketch and received a Small Silver Medal (both of these sketches have been preserved for me)." 

We present today's work thanks to the Scientific Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts. The quote is cited from Academy of arts: the history of daily occurrence in the memories and images of contemporaries. XIX — early XX century / Author-compiler Elena Litovchenko, Lyudmila Polyakova. Saint Petersburg, 2013.

P.S. Here you can read about the enchanting world of Russian fairy-tales!