A typical example of the image of the peasantry or lower urban classes popular in the 1830s and 1840s, with symbolic attributes. Usually, this kind of work is masterfully painted. It is no accident that Sergei Antonov received the title of Free Artist for this painting in 1842.

Antonov Sergei

ANTONOV, Sergei
Artist of the mid-19th century
Painter. Born into the St Petersburg lower middle class. Audited classes at the Imperial Academy of Art; began studying under Pyotr Basin (from 1836). In1842, he left the lower middle class and was awarded the title of Free Artist for the painting Russian Girl Plucking a Flower. Made drawings for various publications: Correspondence and Stories of a Rus¬sian Invalid (1844), Page (1845) and others.