Illustration for the Russian Fairy Story "The Frog Princess" 1899

Ivan Bilibin created this illustration for the Russian fairy tale "The Frog Princess" to evoke the mystical world of Russian folklore. Bilibin, who lived from 1876 to 1942, was deeply influenced by the “Mirs Iskusstva” movement in Russia, which sought to revive traditional Russian art and craftsmanship. Here, we see an exchange between Ivan-Tsarevich and his father, the Tsar. The Tsar looks upon the carpet woven by the Frog Princess, who we learn earlier in the adjacent text, is a beautiful maiden disguised as an amphibian. Bilibin does not simply illustrate the fairy tale; he situates it within a broader cultural context, one in which the Tsar embodies power and tradition, while the resourceful Frog Princess challenges conventional notions of beauty and capability. She transforms the mundane, like a lowly frog's skin, into an object of wonder and artistry. It is the transformative power of women that this image conveys; a woman who is able to disguise herself in order to challenge authority.