SELF-IMMOLATION. GOGOL BURNING HIS MANUSCRIPT, 1909 (oil on canvas)

1909//Oil on canvas Répine knew very well the work of Nicolas Gogol (1809-1852), from which he drew inspiration several times. Created for the centenary of the writer's birth, this painting evokes the destruction by him of the second volume of his book Dead Souls. This episode resonated strongly with the painter, whom his contemporaries compared to the man of letters, as his obsessive dissatisfaction pushed him to constantly retouch his canvases. Here, Répine focuses on Gogol's convulsed face, which is theatrically lit by the fire in the fireplace that has just reduced his manuscript to ashes.