Pavel Fedotov’s The Major’s Courtship is one of the most famous works of nineteenth-century Russian realism. Fedotov, a pioneer of genre painting in Russia, shows with gentle irony a scene from merchant life: a retired major, considered a desirable suitor “with a title,” arrives to propose marriage. The parents are thrilled, while the frightened bride tries to run away, held back by her mother.
This almost theatrical scene becomes, in Fedotov’s hands, a sharp social observation. The artist satirizes arranged marriages and the hypocrisy of social manners, contrasting them with true human feelings. The detailed gestures, expressions, and interior make the viewer feel as if they have just looked through a window and witnessed.