Feast of Kings

Mediums: oil, canvas.
Location: The State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia).

A close friend of the artist, Futurist poet V. Khlebnikov said about this picture that it was a “feast of corpses” or a “feast of revenge” and seemed to predict a world war. In accordance with the principles of analytics, the author believed that there is no sense in simply depicting the plot; he reflected movement in the painting. However, it is not external, like that of Futurists, but is rather a movement in time, drawing the stages of the process of eating. The table looks like a sacrificial lectern (in the center, there is a fish symbolizing Christianity), and all the common color is red like blood. It is symbolic that this picture covered the master’s body during 9 days – during the blockade in Leningrad it was impossible to get boards. The Union of Soviet Artists (Filonov called the association “isosvolochi”) still allocated boards, and it was a sign of respect.