Portrait of Historian M.Kostomarov 

Nikolai Ge painted this portrait of historian M. Kostomarov using traditional oil paints, a medium that had become standard for formal portraiture by the late 19th century. The smooth, blended surfaces and careful attention to light and shadow are hallmarks of academic painting, a style that emphasized technical skill and realism. Look closely, and you can see the thin layers of paint that Ge applied to build up the image, a technique called glazing. This allowed him to create a sense of depth and luminosity, capturing the texture of Kostomarov’s beard and the sheen of his coat. But Ge wasn’t just interested in surface appearances. He also used the materiality of paint to convey a sense of the sitter’s inner life, his intellectual weight and somber disposition. The dark palette and restrained brushwork contribute to this effect, creating a portrait that is both visually impressive and psychologically complex. In the end, it reminds us that even the most seemingly straightforward artistic techniques can be infused with layers of meaning.