Near the dead

Taras Shevchenko. Terms deceased. Sketch. Stained paper, pencil (19,4 22,5 cm). [7.III 1848 – 12.VI 1856]. Taras Shevchenko National Museum, inv. Number 649.

Above right ink inscription: Number 117 – 172.

Soldier's coat, thrown over the shoulders reader of psalter, gives grounds to include drawing for period of exile.

Given the fact that the picture is on tinted paper, start date within the reference established by the letter Shevchenko to A. I. Lyzogub of 7.III 1848, in which the artist expresses his gratitude for the submitted paper with paints and brushes.

Since in the Shevchenko's diary there is no mention of death, you should assume that it occurred before the artist began writing his diary. Therefore, the deadline is determined by the first entry in the diary.

In the literature is found under the title: "By the bed dead ", " deceased, beside him stands a man " [A. Novitsky, Taras Shevchenko as a painter, Lviv – Moscow, 1914, p. 68, № 461], " Reader psalms over the dead " [A. Novitsky, Paintings of Taras Shevchenko, [Kyiv, 1936], p. 221, № 577].

Storage areas: V. Tarnowski's Chernihiv museum of ukrainian antiquities – № 416 Chernihiv Regional Museum of History, Institute of Taras Shevchenko, Kharkiv – Kyiv, Gallery of pictures Shevchenko, Kharkiv.

L. I. Vnuchkova

After publication: Taras Shevchenko Complete Works in 10 volumes. – Kyiv: ed. Academy of sciences of UkrSSR, 1962, vol. 8, № 138 (image), p. 47 (note).