Menshikov in Berezovo

"Menshikov in Berezovo" (1883), held at the Tretyakov Gallery, depicts Alexander Menshikov — Peter the Great's closest associate and the most powerful man in Russia after Peter's death — in his exile in Berezovo, a remote Siberian settlement where he was banished after falling from power in 1727. Menshikov had risen from humble origins to become a prince, field marshal, and de facto ruler of Russia during Peter II's minority, before his enemies engineered his downfall and stripped him of everything. Surikov shows him in the cramped darkness of a Siberian log cabin, his large frame dominating the small room, his children gathered around him. The contrast between the man's evident physical and intellectual power and his complete destitution speaks to the precariousness of power in autocratic Russia and the brutal speed of political reversal. Surikov researched the subject with characteristic thoroughness, producing a composition of sustained psychological intensity. The Tretyakov's holding of this painting places it among the canonical works of Russian realist historical painting.

The confined interior of the Siberian cabin creates an almost oppressive spatial setting, Menshikov's large figure filling the low room. Surikov uses the dimness of the interior — lit by a small window — to create a tonal drama that emphasizes confinement and fall from light. The faces of the children are rendered with individual psychology, each responding differently to their father's collapse.