Bogatyrs

Viktor Vasnetsov worked on the picture for nearly twenty years, beginning with a small sketch in eighteen eighty one and finishing the enormous canvas in eighteen ninety eight. He wanted the heroes to look real rather than theatrical, so he studied old weapons and chain mail, painted the horses from life, and used models that included a peasant carter for Ilya and, for Alyosha, the son of the industrialist Savva Mamontov. Look at the small details he loved: the tiny fir trees at the horses' feet, the grass bending in the wind, the way each horse has a personality that matches its rider.

Pavel Tretyakov bought the painting straight from the artist as soon as it was finished. It quickly became the image of Russian strength and vigilance and has been reproduced on everything from schoolbooks to stamps. Vasnetsov himself said it was the picture that expressed his artistic duty to his people, and he chose to hang it in a large hall of the gallery where he also designed the facade. The three riders are still on watch.

Did You Know? The model for Ilya Muromets in the centre was a Moscow carter, and the young hero Alyosha was painted from the son of the industrialist Savva Mamontov.