Historian Nikolai Kostomarov in a coffin 1885

Ilya Repin painted this portrait of the Historian Nikolai Kostomarov in 1885, presumably in oils. The image portrays a man in his coffin. But how might it challenge existing social norms? Kostomarov was an important figure in Ukrainian national identity. He wrote about the history of Ukraine, and helped to foster a sense of national consciousness. In the Russian Empire at this time, the Tsarist regime was trying to suppress any expression of Ukrainian national identity, as they feared it might weaken the empire. Repin was a Ukrainian realist painter, and he would have been aware of the political situation. This painting is therefore a political statement as well as a portrait of the deceased. For the historian, understanding an artwork involves considering how it reflects and engages with these social and institutional contexts, drawing on resources such as letters, archives, and publications from the period.