LEON TOLSTOI BAREFOOT, 1901 (oil on canvas)

1901//Oil on canvas In the summer of 1891, Repin painted in Yasnaya Polyana a study of Tolstoy praying in the forest. In 1900, he returned to the study and used it to produce this portrait, which was first presented in February 1901 at the twenty-ninth exhibition of The Ambulants in Saint Petersburg. Tolstoy was then excommunicated by the Holy Synod, the high authority of the Russian Orthodox Church, for having sharply criticized official orthodoxy. In support of Tolstoy, the audience gathers in front of the painting and places flowers on it. With this refined representation, Répine seeks to make visible the spiritual quest and simplicity in which the writer aspires to live. Alexandra Tolstoy, however, reports in her memories her father's irritation at this painting: “He removed the boots, it's very fortunate that he left the pants! ”