St. Boris' stone cross

Taras Shevchenko. Stone Cross of St. Boris. Watercolour (17,5 × 26,2 cm). [Pereyaslav]. [August – September 1845]. Taras Shevchenko National Museum, inv. number g – 396.

Lower left – hand Shevchenko marked: 4. Right at the top of the ink – № 90.

On the picture reproduced in watercolor the inscription, cutted on the cross:

I[esus] C[hrist] NIKA this cross [installed] on the place of murder of saint passion of Christ – russian Grand Duke Boris. Installed by Gregory Butovych archpriest of Perejaslav. With help of Selyvan Kirillovich Bilyj, shooter's captain, in [1664] In May [2].

On the right on the free field – almost obliterated inscription, made by Shevchenko's hand, and on top of it with ink and the same hand inscription that is on the back of the cross:

and make this cross Harko Bezpalchy miller with his friend Martin.

Description of the cross and the text – see also in historical and archaeological records of Shevchenko.

On the back of the sketch "Genre scene".

Dated by the time of staying Shevchenko in Poltava region and after the letter of A. Kozachkovsky to O. Bodjans'ky of 20 Sep 1845, where there is evidence that Shevchenko during his stay in Pereyaslav "depicted Intercession cathedral and Michael church and Cross in chapel".

In the literature found under the name "Stone cross on Alta river" [O. Novitsky. Taras Shevchenko as a painter. – Lviv – Moscow, 1914, p. 17] and incorrect definition of technology – sepia [«Product of V. Tarnowski's Museum of Ukrainian antiquity», vol. II, Chernigov, 1900, p. 171, № 150].

Registered as № 82 in a Chestahivsky's list, entitled "Cross in memory of Boris".

Storage areas: collection of Kozachkovsky, Kakhovski, S.D. Brazol, V. Tarnowski's Museum of Ukrainian antiquity in Chernigov – № 165, Chernihiv Regional Historical Museum, Institute of Taras Shevchenko, Kharkiv, Gallery paintings of Taras Shevchenko Kharkiv; T. Shevchenko's central museum, Kyiv.

In 1929 exposed in an exhibition of works of T. Shevchenko in Chernihiv (Catalogue, p. 18, № 4).

K. V. Chumak

After publication: Taras Shevchenko Complete works in 10 volumes. – Kyiv: ed. Academy of sciences of UkrSSR, 1961, Vol. 7, part 1, № 125 (image), p. 49 (note).