Old king 1910

Here's Nicholas Roerich's "Old King," in the Roerich Museum in Moscow, painted with what looks like tempera, maybe, giving it that matte, almost fresco-like surface. I imagine Roerich layering those colors, a kind of pointillist dabbing that creates this otherworldly light. Look at the king's profile! Stern, but also…vulnerable? I bet Roerich was thinking about power, history, maybe even the weight of tradition. I mean, that crown can’t be comfortable, right? And the landscape! Those blues and oranges create a real visionary space; it reminds me of early Renaissance landscapes, Giotto maybe, but with a mystical twist. The repetition of forms across the painting is what ties it together. This piece feels so connected to the Symbolist movement, that search for inner meaning through outward forms, the real dreamscape of painting. Painting is really just a continuous conversation, isn’t it? It's about responding, reacting, and keeping the dialogue alive.