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The Demon Seated
Mikhail Vrubel · Symbolism & Art Nouveau
- Artist
- Mikhail Alexandrovich Vrubel (1856–1910)
- Date
- 1890
- Dimensions
- 116.5 x 213.8 cm
- Medium
- Oil on canvas
- Location
- Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia
The Demon Seated shows a powerful, half-naked young man sitting on a mountaintop at sunset, his hands clasped around his knees. Around him, strange flowers like crystals or stained glass glow in purple, orange and blue, and his head almost touches the top of the canvas.
A closer look
The figure is the Demon from Mikhail Lermontov's romantic poem, a fallen angel who longs for love and beauty but is condemned to eternal loneliness. Vrubel shows him not as a monster but as a sad, brooding youth, strong yet helpless, his eyes full of longing. The surface is built from faceted, mosaic-like brushstrokes, influenced by Byzantine art, which Vrubel had studied while restoring churches in Kyiv. The cramped composition, cutting off the figure at the top, adds to the feeling of confinement.