They are Coming (Moscovites Watching the Entry of a Foreign Embassy into Moscow at the End of the XVII Century) 

Andrei Ryabushkin painted "They are Coming" near the turn of the twentieth century, an oil on canvas depicting seventeenth-century Muscovites. It gives us a glimpse into a pivotal era of Russian history, when the country began to open itself up to foreign influence. Ryabushkin shows us a crowd of people, their faces a mix of curiosity and suspicion, as they watch a foreign embassy enter Moscow. The architecture, clothing, and even the weaponry are rendered with ethnographic detail. The painter’s commitment to historical accuracy reflects a broader cultural interest in Russia's past. Ryabushkin was part of a movement that sought to define a unique Russian identity, one that looked back to pre-Petrine Russia for inspiration. This was a conscious rejection of the Westernizing reforms of Peter the Great, reforms that many Russians saw as a betrayal of their cultural heritage. To truly understand the painting, you'd want to delve into historical records, diplomatic archives, and accounts of daily life in 17th-century Moscow. Ryabushkin’s painting serves as a reminder that art is always embedded in a specific time and place.