But what is this choice? What is Christ thinking? Kramskoy took a story from the Bible about the temptation of Christ by the devil. After baptism, when Jesus was 30 years old, he decided to retire to the wilderness for 40 days. He neither ate nor drank there. And in this state, the devil tried to tempt him.
According to the Bible, all reflections of Christ concern the choice between good and evil.
But Kramskoy has no devil. After all, a sane person does not see the devil in reality. What then thinks Christ Kramskoy?
We don't have to guess. The artist himself explains everything in correspondence.
His character is strong. He is so extraordinary that he can conquer the whole world. But he decides not to do this, by force of will drowning out in himself the universal desires for power and wealth. And he chooses a much more difficult path, which does not promise any benefits "here and now." This is the struggle with oneself, the reshaping of destiny, the internal breakdown, we see. Agree, this requires a very complex mixture of emotions and thoughts. That's exactly what you see on his face. And involuntarily empathize.
At first glance, the picture is very realistic. After all, everything otherworldly in it is discarded.
There remains a real image of a man who has been walking barefoot in the desert for several days. Without food and water. Yes, even exhausted by long and serious thoughts.
But there is still a bit of mysticism in the picture. Pay attention to the stones around Christ. At the bottom of the canvas is an unusual stone. Its base is too narrow for it to stand on its own. A symbol of the godlikeness of Christ and his ability to work miracles? And the stone on the right looks more like a man-made slab. She ominously hangs over the earth as a symbol of the coming unbearable trials.
For Russian painting, such an image of Christ was unusual. When there is no action, no real plot. Just thoughts.
But just such an image was fixed in the image of Christ by Russian artists.
