Tiger

Taras Shevchenko. Tiger. Tinted watercolour (15,6 × 31 cm). [Kos-Aral]. [20.XI 1848]. Taras Shevchenko National Museum, inv. g – 747.

Dated on the basis of a letter A. Butakov to relatives of November 24, 1848, in which he says:

"Since the latter feat of dzhulbars [=tiger] was very close to the building and it could eat any of those in the image and likeness of God, then the 20th, we gathered in the number of people 45 and made a raid across the whole island… dzhulbars seemed out of reeds and some lower on front legs to jump on him [soldier], but he warned the tiger, and in that moment, as he lay before the jump, put a bullet in the forehead from a distance of two yards. The blow was so good that a tiger as he was, and remained, snoozing on his front paws" [Berg L. S., Essays on the History of Russian geographical discoveries, M.-L., 1949, p. 207 – 208].

Mentioned in literature under the title: "Tiger, who tore a few people" ["Ukrainian life", Moscow, 1912, № 11, p. 76], "Tiger kill during the Aral expedition her husband" [A. Novitsky Taras Shevchenko as a painter, Lviv – Moscow, 1914, p. 77, № 593].

Storage areas: property of Butakov, Glazenap, Kyiv City Museum, Ukrainian historical museum (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, № 40 (image), p. 24 – 25 (notes).