Konstantin Makovsky. A Boyar with a Goblet. late 1890s to early 1900s

A Boyar with a Goblet (Konstantin Makovsky, late 1890s to early 1900s)

Although it appears to be an étude for his A Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th Century, that work was painted in the 1880s, and this piece is at least 10 years older. Someone wanted a painting of one of the lascivious old rapscallions in that picture, and Makovsky, with an eye to good business, obliged. People have changed not one whit over the centuries, have they? The more things change…