The artist is Roerich
The picture was written by Roerich in India at the height of World War II, at one of the most dramatic moments of the country’s history. It is included in a series of works devoted to the events of the native past, national heroes and saints. In them, the artist expressed his thoughts about the present, experiences about the fate of the distant homeland, Russia. The canvas is based on a real plot – the heroic and at the same time the tragic campaign of the Kyiv Prince Igor against the Polovtsy. He is equally inspired by Roerich and a real event, and the images of the opera A.P. Borodin "Prince Igor", which the artist issued in the early 1910s.
From the table city of Kyiv, with its powerfully fortified walls and towers, the sad foot of the army of Prince Igor comes out. Acute silhouettes of figures, rhythm of the peak and banners with the faces of saints against the phosphorescent yellow background of the sky, at the time of the eclipse of the sun, cause a sense of anxiety and predetermination of fate. This feeling is enhanced by flashes of thick blue-violet and dark red spots on yellow.
