Costume design for the Opera "Prince Igor" by Alexander Borodin 1929

Here's Ivan Bilibin's costume design for the opera "Prince Igor," probably made with watercolor and ink, and a whole lotta patience. Look at the detail in the armour, the cloak, and the shield. Imagine Bilibin hunched over a table, meticulously rendering each tiny square and curve. There is something so beautiful about an image like this - a costume design - that represents a beginning to a performance; a possibility for an even greater work to emerge. I wonder if Bilibin ever got bored with the repetition of the pattern, or if he found a meditative pleasure in it? The layering of detail creates depth, and a sense of the character's weight. I love the castle in the background, and the strange, flat sky: it makes me think of the kind of intense imagery you find in Russian folk tales. Artists like Bilibin remind me that art is a conversation across time, and across different art forms. He shows us how our creativity can inspire others, and how something beautiful can come from a seed of an idea.